Living On A Prayer
by The Night Lord
Summary: Fourth in the Poster Girl series. Angel and Cordelia are trying to bring Piper back, while Connor resents his father and the Apocalypse is coming, led by the indestructible Beast. Will Team Angel be able to hold up against the mighty Beast? Please R
1. Deep Down

**Okay, so here is the fourth instalment of the Poster Girl series. I hope you all enjoy it**

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The Plymouth pulled up to the curb, as Gunn and Fred hopped out. They had come across a group of vampires, hoping to get some answers

"What can we do for you, Mr. Gunn?" the leader asked

"We're looking for Maria," Gunn replied, "I'm told she knows something about Angel. Where is she?"

"Maria. Yeah, I know where she is. Downtown on fifth," the leader replied, "Tell her I want my CDs back. On second thoughts, I'll tell her myself"

Gunn swung his car-rim axe, decapitating a vampire, but five more vampires quickly surrounded him and knocked him to the ground. Fred headed for the vampires, raising her stake, but one of the vampires grabbed Gunn's axe and hurled it at the scientist…only to land straight in Connor's hands, as he hurled it back and decapitated the vampire. The other vampires looked up, as Gunn rose up and struck a vampire. Connor kicked one vampire in the stomach and punched another, as another vampire held Fred to the bonnet of the Plymouth. She popped a stake out of her sleeve and stabbed it into the vampire's heart, dusting him. Connor and Gunn dusted the rest of the vampires, except for one who ran off. Connor chased after him, as Gunn and Fred hopped into the Plymouth and took off after the teenager

"The boy better know what he's doing," Gunn said, "This is the last lead we've got on Angel and I hate to lose it cause the kid's not thinking"

"Charles…"

Fred trailed off when she saw that Gunn wasn't going to listen. He floored the accelerator, arriving at Maria's apartment, just as Connor kicked the door down and stormed inside. Gunn shook his head and followed after him, axe in hand, while Fred trailed behind them. Suddenly, she was thrown aside, as Gunn was uppercutted. Maria kicked Connor in the stomach and ran off. Connor quickly recovered and chased after the vampire as Gunn helped Fred to her feet

"Connor, don't kill her," Gunn called, but Connor was already gone, "Damn it"

Connor reached the top of the building, spinning around and seeing Maria, as she slid her vampire features back to human

"What did you see?" Connor asked, "Did you see anything?"

"Look, I haven't been to that spot in months," Maria answered, "So I didn't see anything"

"Don't lie to me"

"Okay, so I was there a few months ago, but it doesn't matter what I did or didn't see. Come on, babe, why don't we hang out?"

She tried to snuggle up to him, but Connor staked her. Hearing Gunn and Fred arriving, he ripped open his sleeve and cut a line on his arm, just as Gunn and Fred arrived. The vampire hunter sighed when he saw the pile of dust

"What did I say? Did you even listen to me?"

"She attacked me. I was defending myself," Connor protested

"What is wrong with you, boy?" Gunn asked, "Why won't you listen?"

"What makes you think I have to listen to you, Charles?"

Connor fixed the older man with a glare, before stepping off the edge of the five storey building, as Gunn growled in frustration

"Charles, it's okay," Fred said, "He's just like an ordinary boy"

"Jumping off a five storey building without busting your coconut is not ordinary"

††††††††††

"How'd it go?" Cordelia asked later that night

She had wanted to go out and help search for Angel, but soon discovered that Piper had also disappeared, which meant now that either Cordelia or Fred had to stay at the Hyperion with Ashleigh while Connor and Gunn went out to search for Angel

"Your son," Gunn muttered, "Doesn't know how to listen"

"What did you do this time, Connor?" Cordelia asked

"He staked our only chance at finding Angel after I told him not to"

"Connor! Why on earth did you do that?"

"She attacked me, Mom. I was simply defending myself," Connor said, walking away

"Look at me when I'm talking to you, young man. When you're out there, you listen to Gunn, Fred and/or myself. None of this cowboying stuff, got it?"

"Yeah, sure, Mom, whatever"

Connor turned away and headed upstairs as Cordelia let out a heavy sigh

"I don't know what to do with him. I really need Angel here. Connor has become worst ever since his father disappeared"

"Don't worry, Cordy, we're trying," Fred said, "We're doing our best"

††††††††††

"You heard about Angel having disappeared, right?" Lilah asked

"Yes, I know, but I do not care," Wesley replied, holding her close to him

"Don't lie to me, Wes. I know when you're lying"

"I have no interest in what goes on with Angel and his team. I do not care what happens to Angel or his team. They have no place in my life anymore"

"Wow. Isn't that cold?"

Just then, her mobile phone went off. Lilah sighed and switched the alarm off, before sliding out of bed and getting dressed. Wesley watched her with a small smile, as she kissed him, before leaving the apartment. Wesley waited a few minutes, before getting out of bed and putting on a pair of jeans, then heading to a door cut into the wall and opened it, revealing the cage…and Justine gagged and bound inside

"Time for a little boat ride," Wesley said, dangling the keys

††††††††††

Connor turned the page, staring at the photographs. He was in his room, going through the photo albums he had taken from his mother's room. He was slowly going through them, staring at photos of himself as a baby, being held by Angel, Cordelia and Wesley. He saw that his parents were so happy with him, Angel especially, always wearing a grin whenever he held his son. Cordelia looked so young with her long, brown hair as she cradled her son in her arms

_"Angel doesn't seem to be that evil. He really cares about Mom. But looks can be deceiving. Told me that, especially when it comes to Angelus"_

He turned the page again, coming across a large photograph. It was of Angel, Cordelia, a newborn Ashleigh and Connor as a toddler. They were all dressed smartly, as if they had gone to a professional photographer. Connor looked at the smiles on his parents' faces, mainly at Angel's, trying to see the evil in his father's eyes

_"He doesn't look evil. He's so…happy. How could he have killed Holtz? No denying it, Angelus killed Holtz and now he's suffering for it. But…who's lying?"_

††††††††††

"Why do you even bother?" Justine asked, "He did try to kill you"

Wesley ignored her as he piloted the boat, checking the sonar every now and again. Not long after Angel had disappeared, Wesley had gone around to Justine's apartment, demanding answers. Justine refused and a fistfight broke out, a fight that Wesley won. He then brought the unconscious Justine back to his place and interrogated her, learning that she and Connor had captured Angel, sealed him inside a steel coffin and tossed him out into the ocean. And since then, Wesley had been out on his rented boat with Justine every night, trying to find Angel

"Why would you even want to help that…thing?"

"Angel has a soul. It makes him different from every other vampire"

"Didn't stop him from trying to kill you. Didn't stop him from killing Holtz"

"We both know that's a lie. You killed Holtz, Justine and you framed Angel for it. You made a young man turn on his father and sink him to the bottom of the ocean"

"Well, it was worth a couple of hucks"

Justine then spied a wrench hiding under a map and slowly drew it out, before raising it, ready to bring it crashing down onto Wesley's head

"I'll take away your bucket," Wesley threatened without looking over his shoulder

Justine tossed the wrench aside and sat down with an angry sigh

"I think I'm getting something here"

"Might be another shopping cart"

Wesley ignored her, cutting the engine, before tossing her a wetsuit

"Time for a little swim, Justine"

Ten minutes later, Justine was wearing scuba gear and under the water with her torch in hand, swimming along the bottom of the ocean. Then, her light swept over a large, steel box. It was the coffin she had made and the light played over the glass, revealing the vein-covered face inside, as a small smile broke out on his face

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	2. Ground State

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Connor was lying on his bed, playing with his Gameboy when Fred entered the room, bringing in a plate of sandwiches for him

"I have your favourite here"

"No tomato?" Connor asked, putting his Gameboy aside

"None. Now, what do you say?"

"Thanks"

Connor took a sandwich and began eating it

"I can't believe you done that, Connor," Fred said slowly, "I can only imagine how he suffered. All because of what you did"

Without warning, she jammed a taser into his chest. Connor groaned as the shocks ran through him. Fred jabbed him again, making sure he was down and out. When Connor woke up later, he found himself tied to a chair in the office, Fred, Gunn and Cordelia standing before her, his mother holding his sister on her hip

"How could you do that, Connor?" Cordelia asked, "How could you have done that to your father?"

"See, we got a call from an old friend of ours," Gunn said, "Said he has something for us. Yeah, that's right, Sparky. Daddy's coming home and I'm guessing there's gonna be a spanking"

"He deserved it," Connor said, "He killed my…Holtz. He killed Holtz"

"No, he did not," Cordelia said, "Your friend, Justine, killed Holtz. Killed him with an icepick and made it look like Angel killed Holtz"

Connor looked away from his mother, as the front doors to the Hyperion swung open. Cordelia, Fred and Gunn headed into the lobby, as Wesley handed the weak Angel to them. Cordelia put Ashleigh in the bassinet, before helping Angel to the couch

"Thanks for your help, Wes," Fred said

Wesley simply shrugged and left the hotel, as a noise came from the office. Gunn and Fred rushed in, getting struck by the taser. Connor kicked Gunn aside, as Cordelia entered the office. Connor shoved her aside and headed for the door…only to find Angel standing in the doorway, an angry glare on his face

"Sit…down"

Connor begrudgingly sat on his chair, as Angel sat on another and crossed his arms, glaring at his son, as Cordelia slowly got to her feet, Gunn and Fred laying on top of each other on the floor, but otherwise conscious

"So, how was your summer?" Angel asked, "Mine was great. Saw some fish and hallucinated a whole bunch"

"You deserved it," Connor muttered under his breath

"Yeah, except I didn't kill Holtz. Justine did"

"You still deserved it"

"What I deserve is open to debate. But understand, there's a difference between wishing vengeance on someone and taking it. So now the question becomes what do you deserve?"

Connor leapt up from his chair, rushing to the doorway. Angel was faster, rising up from his chair and slamming his palms against Connor's chest, throwing him against the wall. Connor sank to the floor as Angel stood over him

"Daddy's not finished talking. Wesley told me everything that's been going on, so as far as I'm concerned, what you deserve rests on one answer. Did you do something to Piper Combs, our friend?"

"No," Connor replied

"He's lying," Gunn said, "No way she happened to disappear the same night"

"I'm not lying," Connor protested

"I know, I can tell. You've done enough lying for me to know the truth," Angel said, "The truth has a better sound to it. Less nasal, you know?"

Connor tried to shrink against the wall under the glare from his father

"What you did to me… was unbelievable, Connor. But then, I got stuck in a hell dimension by my girlfriend one time for a hundred years, so three months under the ocean actually gave me perspective. Kind of a M. C. Esher perspective — but I did get time to think. About us, about the world. Nothing in the world is the way it ought to be. It's harsh, and cruel. But that's why there's us. Champions. It doesn't matter where we come from, what we've done or suffered, or even if we make a difference. We live as though the world were as it should be, to show it what it can be. You're not a part of that yet. I hope you will be. I love you, Connor. Now get out of my house"

Connor slowly got up from the wall and left the hotel, as Angel fell to the ground. Gunn and Cordelia were instantly by his side, helping him to his feet

"Wow, talking really takes a lot out of you"

"Did you just kick our son out of our home?" Cordelia demanded

"He has to learn, Cordy," Angel replied, "Connor has to learn someday"

"Now that we've got you home," Gunn said, "What's next?"

"We search for Piper," Angel replied, "After I have a lie down"

††††††††††

_Two days later…_

Wesley sliced the demon in half, as his men started on the cleanup. Angel arrived at the industrial site, looking around and admiring how far Wesley had come

"Angel. What can I do for you?" Wesley asked

"I just wanna, you know, thanks for helping me out," Angel replied, "I had a lot of time to think down there and as far as we're concerned, we're okay"

Wesley didn't answer as he handed Angel a thick manilla folder

"You've been doing your own search," Angel said

"Soon after I learned that Piper had gone missing, I went looking into things. And I believe that she is longer in our dimension anymore. This is what you'll need to find her. It's the Axis of Pythis and you can find it here"

"Heavily guarded, security cameras, laser trips, the whole works and jerks," Angel said, "Thanks a lot, Wesley"

He turned to face him, but the ex-Watcher was already gone

††††††††††

_Later that night…_

"Damn, this is so much harder than it looks on Batman," Gunn huffed and puffed

He, Angel and Fred were currently climbing up the side of the building that housed the Axis of Pythis. Cordelia was staying at home with Ashleigh while the trio relieved the company of their artefact. They were geared up and ready to rumble, as they reached the rooftop and skimmed across to the door. Fred went to work on the electrical box, disarming the security alarms and cameras and they slipped inside

"Watch out!" Gunn cried, before knocking out a guard, "I told you to watch out"

He then dragged the guard to the nearest room, opening it to find several more unconscious guards. Meaning that there was someone else on the job here. He quickly dumped the guard inside and raced off to find Angel and Fred

"There it is," Angel called, seeing the Axis

"Angel, wait, I need to tell you something," Gunn called

Angel was about to enter the room, when steel gates suddenly closed off the room, revealing the numerous laser trips, as the cover to the airshaft was knocked off

"There's somebody already here," Gunn told Angel

A woman dressed in black tights and with red streaks in her brown hair descended into the room. She placed her hand amongst the lasers and they arched up from her

"Who are you?" Angel asked

"A freak," the woman replied, "What are you doing here?"

"I want that artefact"

"Sorry, but someone is paying me a lot of money for it and I've got it"

"I need it to find a friend"

"Give them a call"

Angel and Gunn used their combined strenght, as Gwen grabbed the Axis and began climbing back up the cable. Fred overrode the wires, opening the gate, as Angel and Gunn rushed in to tackle Gwen. However, she placed one bare palm against Gunn's bare throat, delivering an electric shock into him. He fell to the ground, unmoving, as Fred raced in and fell beside him, checking his pulse

"Oh my God! He's dead!"

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	3. The Axis of Pythis

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Gwen dropped from the cable and pressed her hand to Gunn's chest. Nothing happened, as she flicked her hand and tried again. This time, Gunn gasped, his heart beating once again as he took in a deep breath. Relieved that he was alive, Gwen then shimmied up the cable, disappearing from sight, just as the alarms went off. Angel helped Gunn get to his feet, before leading the two out of the building

††††††††††

"How'd it go?" Cordelia asked, "Did you get it?"

"No. Some chick with electrical powers took it first," Angel replied as he flopped onto the bed, "Now I'm gonna have to track her down and force it off her"

"Well, how are you going to do that?"

Cordelia placed Ashleigh in her cot and tucked the blanket around her, as Angel got up from the bed and headed over to the window, thinking about his son. He was out there somewhere in the city. Angel had a feeling that kicking Connor out was for the best. The teenager had to learn someday. Shaking his mind free of Connor, Angel kissed Cordelia on the cheek, before setting out to find the electric woman

††††††††††

Gwen Raiden arrived at the elevator and stopped before the mirror nearby, checking on her make-up. She was on her way to make the sale of the Axis and briefly thought about the trio that had confronted her the previous night. She shrugged, thinking nothing more about it, when a voice stopped her

"That's a nice shade"

Gwen whirled around to face Angel, before looking back at the mirror, seeing that he wasn't reflecting. She looked back at him again, seeing his smile

"What are you?" she asked

"I'm a freak, like you," Angel replied, "Where is the Axis?"

"I sold it"

"You're lying"

"I'm fibbing. Much classier. What do you need it for?"

"You know what it does. I need it to find a friend of mine"

"Sorry, I don't feel like sharing right now"

Gwen turned to enter the elevator, but Angel spun her around, scoring a blow to the face. He growled, as she punched him again, delivering a kick to his chest. Angel rolled back onto his feet, as Gwen came at him with a roundhouse kick. Angel ducked under her leg, blocking her left backhand, before ducking under her backhand. Gwen slammed her palm against Angel's chest, knocking him back a few steps and moved in with a blow to his face. Angel blocked her arm and cracked her across the jaw. Gwen reacted with another blow at Angel's face, but he ducked under her arm, moving around to behind her, only to get kicked in the stomach

"_Damn, this woman is fast!"_

Gwen smirked as she slowly removed her long-sleeved gloves and tossed them aside, flexing her fingers as electricity crackled along her knuckles. She lashed out, but Angel blocked and struck her, as she then punched him in the stomach, before throwing him against the wall. Electricity sizzled as she kicked him in the face, followed by a punch. Grabbing her arm, Angel punched her in the face, followed by a kick to her stomach, throwing her back. Gwen slammed her palms against Angel's chest, throwing him towards the elevator. He got up, blocking Gwen's punch and striking her, then grabbed her by the head and tossed her into the elevator

"Time for a little talk"

He went into the elevator, reaching down to grab Gwen by the throat, but she kicked him in the back, throwing him over, before quickly straddling him and ripping his shirt open, then pressing her hands to his bare chest

"Why won't you fry?" she demanded

She channelled more of her electricity into his body, even managing to restart his dead heart. Angel felt his heart beat briefly and overcome by it, he grabbed Gwen, pulling her lips to his in a passionate kiss. But then, Cordelia flashed in his mind and he quickly broke away, panting heavily even though he didn't need to

"Well, that was interesting, you little freak" came a voice

Angel and Gwen looked up to see her client and three other men standing outside the elevator. Gwen's client was holding the bag containing the Axis and wearing the cat-that-ate-the-canary smile, as bars appeared in the elevator doorway, preventing the pair from leaving, as the thick doors then closed

"Damn it!" Gwen cried

Gas started to pour into the elevator, as Angel forced Gwen to the ground

"Stay there. It'll take a while for the gas to reach you"

"What about you, moron?"

"I don't breathe"

Angel then ran his hands along the walls, before stopping and punching a section of the wall. He kept punching and punching, even as his knuckles started to bleed, but he kept striking the wall, breaking through and grabbing hold of the cables, before reaching his hand out to Gwen. She grabbed his hand, channelling her electricity through Angel's body to the cables, shutting off the gas and opening the doors

Angel burst through the doors, striking one thug, uppercutting him across the room, as a second thug grabbed Angel from behind. The vampire elbowed the thug, throwing him over his shoulder, then delivering two swift kicks to the third thug, taking him down, as Gwen confronted her client, an angry look on her face

"You can call me whatever you want, but don't call me a freak"

She raised her hand to electrocute him, but Angel quickly stopped her

"Don't kill him"

"I wasn't"

"Don't fib"

"Fine"

Angel let Gwen go, then swung his fist, knocking her client out

††††††††††

_Later that night…_

"Wow, that's bright," Gunn said

"Let's hope he finds her," Cordelia said

The bright light soon faded from under the door, as Angel exited the room, while Gunn took a quick peek inside the room at the Axis

"Well, how'd it go?" Fred asked

"She's not here," Angel replied, "She's in a different dimension. She's happy where she is. And she's watching over us. I want to bring her home, but the truth is, she already is home"

Meanwhile, far away in a different dimension, but watching over Earth, Piper Combs listened to her friends discuss about her whereabouts. She had seen Angel use the Axis to find her, but was a little annoyed that he was going to leave her wherever she was. Truth is, Piper had become bored since coming to the realm of the higher beings

"If you can here me, Angel, get me the hell out of here!"

††††††††††

_The next night…_

"How are you feeling?" Cordelia asked, after putting Ashleigh to bed

"I feel fine, Cordy, thanks for asking," Angel replied

"You don't. Ever since returning from the ocean, you've been a bit off"

"Well, my own son did sink me to the bottom of the ocean"

"And then you kicked him out of our house. It's probably a lot to take in"

"Yeah, sure, it is. But I'm trying to deal with it. One day, Connor will learn what's right and wrong and he'll admit his mistakes and come home to us. I'm just…I'm just not ready to forgive him just yet, Cordy"

"And it's weighing on your mind. I know in my heart that Connor will be fine and he will come back to us," Cordelia said, "But you're the one who's not fine"

"Okay, so I'm a little unsure about what to do now. I never thought being a parent could be so tough. I never expected Connor to grow up so quickly like that"

"And it's affecting your work"

"So, I've kinda lost my calling a little. Don't worry, I'll find it"

"I know a quicker way. We'll go see Lorne. We haven't seen him in a while. We can take the whole gang. It'll be a little vacation for us all"

"Alright then, Las Vegas it is"

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	4. Viva Las Vegas

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_"Viva Las Vegas! Viva Las Vegas! Viva, viva, oh viva, Las Vegas!"_

"Can we not go through that again?" Gunn asked

"What's wrong with a bit of the classics?" Angel asked

"Look at all the bright lights, Ash?" Cordelia cooed to her daughter, "Pretty, huh?"

"Man, it's been years since I was here," Angel said, "They used to have sand dunes over there. So much has changed. It's unbelievable"

"Don't tell me you're gonna start being a tour guide," Gunn groaned

"That wasn't there, neither was that," Angel said, pointing things out

"Look!" Fred cried, pointing to a billboard sign featuring Lorne

"He must be pretty good here," Cordelia said, "They must think that he's wearing make-up, like the Blue Man Group. You don't think the-"

"Only two of them," Angel answered for her

He continued driving through the streets of Las Vegas, before arriving at the Tropicana; where Lorne was due to start performing. There was a small bit of trouble at the door when the security guards tried to prevent Cordelia from entering due to Ashleigh. They conceded when Angel vamped out in annoyance and soon, they were all seated at a small table near the front of the stage, as the curtains rose up and the music started to play. Cordelia and Fred instantly recognised the song as 'Lady Marmalade'. Ashleigh smiled and cooed when she saw her 'uncle' Lorne on the stage, launching into the song, with a bunch of scantily-clad women dressed up in Pylean make-up, singing the background vocals and dancing around the real Pylean

"The dude is awesome," Gunn said

Cordelia and Fred both squealed in delight when Lorne leapt off the stage, adding a touch of dramatic flair to the song, as he then starting walking through the audience, selecting random people to sing along with him

"Lorne! Lorne! Over here, Lorne!" Cordelia cried, but Lorne sailed past them

"What was that all about?" Angel asked, "Why would Lorne ignore us?"

"Yeah, that don't seem right," Gunn agreed

Lorne returned to the stage, finishing his song, before starting up on another song called 'It's Not Easy Being Green'. Once the show was over, Angel and the group headed towards his dressing room, trying to get to their friend, but found themselves caught up in the crowd as Lorne was escorted into his room by security

"Okay everyone, time to go. Lorne will return in another few hours," called a guard

"We have to talk to Lorne," Angel said, "I don't care what it takes"

"Maybe I could do my glowing thing, blind everyone and you run inside," Cordelia suggested, "But then again, it's not something I can just turn on and off"

"We'll create a distraction and you guys slip inside," Gunn said

"Think that'll work?" Angel asked

"We get caught, we'll know it worked"

Angel, Cordelia and Ashleigh headed off down one corridor, as Gunn and Fred backtracked to around the corner. Then, they started yelling at each other. The two guards frowned, as Gunn and Fred continued arguing, their voices getting louder and louder. Sighing, one of the guards headed off to check on the pair, disappearing around the corner. The yelling died down, as the remaining guard waited for his buddy to return. When he didn't, the guard drew his baton and headed off. Once he left, Angel and Cordelia ducked back around and headed into Lorne's room, dodging the vase that Lorne swung at them

"What the hell?" Cordelia cried

"Oh, it's you guys. Oh bless, I'm so sorry," Lorne said, throwing the vase aside, "How are you guys. Are Gunn and Fred here as well? What took you guys so long?"

"What are you talking about?" Angel asked

"Well, Fred called me to ask about you when you were missing and I asked her if Fluffy was okay," Lorne replied

"We don't know anyone called Fluffy," Cordelia said

"It's the universal code for help!"

"Okay, now I'm with the lingo," Angel said, "What's been going on, Lorne?"

"Well, I came to Las Vegas to perform and all that and wound up being signed on by this guy, Lee DeMarco. However, he's using me to see into the futures of the audiences and he takes their destinies away so he could sell them on the black market"

"Why didn't you just say no?" Cordelia asked

"I did that. He brought a girl in and blew her brains out. Promised to do that every time I said no," Lorne answered

"Don't worry, we'll get you out of here and we'll stop DeMarco," Angel said

He opened the front door, finding two new guards there. They went for him, but Angel smacked the door into their faces, knocking them out, then dragging them inside, as Lorne and Cordelia slipped outside. Ashleigh smiled and reached out for Lorne, who smiled back and took her into his arms

"Now, let's see where Gunn and Fred got to," Angel said

"Is that them over there by the poker machines?" Cordelia asked

Sure enough, Gunn and Fred were ducking through the poker machines, avoiding the security guards chasing after them. Angel rolled his eyes, as Lorne groaned

"This is not gonna be easy carrying a baby around," Cordelia said, hefting Ashleigh to a better position on her hip, "But I love you, baby girl"

Angel headed off towards Gunn and Fred, shoulder charging a guard into a machine. In the confusion, Angel managed to duck away with Gunn and Fred towards the exit, joined by Cordelia, Lorne and Ashleigh, as more guards started to arrive

"Ah great, we're never gonna get out of here," Gunn moaned

Looking around, Lorne spied a standing mike and with a smile, headed over to it, before unleashing a high-pitched scream, deafening the surrounding people and shattering all the glass. Taking their chance, the group raced off from the guards

"Wait! We can't let DeMarco get away with this," Lorne said

"Okay, let's go," Angel said, "We can avoid the guards and stop DeMarco"

He led the way back towards the Tropicana, just as a few guards spotted them

"Oh boy, they must really want you," Angel said to Lorne, "Where's the room?"

"Uh, this way," Lorne said, pointing the way

"Okay, Gunn and Cordy, you guys go with Lorne and stop DeMarco. Fred, take Ashleigh and go out to the car. I'll hold these guys off"

Fred took Ashleigh from Cordelia and headed off towards the exit, as Gunn, Lorne and Cordelia went towards the office. Angel turned towards the guards, bringing his demon to the fore. The guards stopped before him, shocked at what they were seeing

"Ah, come on, don't be shy," Angel grinned

One guard came at him, swinging his baton, but Angel threw him aside, kicking a guard behind him, then backhanding a guard before him. Dropping down and spinning around, Angel swept up about three guards in one hit, then rising up and stopping a guard's strike, before swinging him around into another two guards, just as gunfire rang out. Growling as a bullet struck him in the chest, Angel ducked amongst the poker machines, heading towards DeMarco's office, smashing the door off its hinges and taking out another two guards, as the guns were aimed at him

"Oh crap," Angel muttered

"Well, what do we have here?" Lee DeMarco asked

Angel looked around, noticing that Gunn, Cordelia and Lorne were being held at gunpoint. Sighing, Angel resumed his human face, as DeMarco sauntered over to him, keeping the gun trained on him. Angel smiled slightly and kicked the table at DeMarco, taking him down, as the guards fired at him. Taking their chances, Gunn and Cordelia attacked the guards surrounding them, as DeMarco got up from under the table, seeing Lorne pick up a glowing crystal ball and smash it against the floor. Destinies flew from the shattered glass, zooming around the casino and returning to their rightful owners, as Angel slammed DeMarco against the wall

"Game's over, DeMarco"

Once everything had been sorted out a few hours later, which involved DeMarco being arrested and taken away, while Angel and the gang slipped out unnoticed to the Plymouth. Lorne was ecstatic to be free of DeMarco's blackmailing and proceeded to sing _Viva Las Vegas_ all the way back to Los Angeles

"Alright, it's so good to be home," Angel said, arriving at the Hyperion

He thrust open the front doors, coming to a stop on the stairs, as Cordelia, Gunn, Fred and Lorne joined him, staring down at the lobby in shock

Piper was standing in the centre of the lobby, looking up at the gang in surprise

"Who are you people?" she asked

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	5. Slouching Towards Bethlehem

Here's another chapter...finally

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Sliding the lock open, Connor slipped inside the Hyperion, placing the dagger back up his sleeve, before moving cautiously along the corridor, keeping an eye out for his parents and their friends. He could hear his father's voice and the front door banging open, so he hid behind a post, looking down at the lobby and seeing a woman there. She was a tall, slim woman with shoulder-length dark hair and dark eyes, wearing a dark green top, denim pants and a dark brown jacket

"Who are you people?" Piper asked

"Piper? Oh my God, you're back!" Cordelia cried

She headed down the stairs towards her friend, but Piper backed away

"Piper, it's us," Fred said, "Your friends"

"Easy, guys, something's up with her," Lorne said calmly

"Like she don't remember us," Gunn said

Connor slipped away unnoticed, as Lorne headed towards Piper slowly

"It's easy, pumpkin, we're not here to hurt you, okay?"

"Yeah, you say that now," Piper said, "I mean, look at you"

"It's Lorne," Cordelia said, "You remember Lorne, right?"

"Do you remember us?" Angel asked, "Any of us? At all?"

"No, I don't," Piper replied, "I know things, but I don't know my name or you guys"

"Oh boy, this can't be good," Lorne said, "Well, where have you been, sweetcheeks?"

"I don't know. I don't know where I've been the last few months"

"You've been with the Powers That Be," Angel answered for her

"The Powers That Be what?" Piper asked, despair starting to set in

"Okay, how about we just let her get some rest?" Cordelia suggested, "I'm sure we could all use the rest?"

"Sounds like a plan, Barbie," Gunn agreed, taking Fred by the hand

Cordelia followed after them with Ashleigh on her hip, as Lorne headed off to his room, as Angel turned to Piper, holding his hand out to her

"Come on, I'll show you your room if you want to stay here"

"Can I trust you guys?"

"Sure you can," Angel said, "I'll make sure you're okay"

Piper looked around the Hyperion uncertainly, before taking hold of Angel's hand and being led upstairs to a spare room. She went inside, as Angel left for his own room. Piper looked around at her room, confused at what was going on, who she was and where she was. Lying down on the bed, Piper slowly drifted off to sleep

††††††††††

Connor prowled through the streets of Los Angeles, thought of Piper running through his mind. Who was she and what connection did she have to his parents? Heading down an alley, Connor was so distracted by his thoughts he didn't see the person before him until he was sitting flat on the ground

"Hey, excuse me!" the man cried, "Watch were you're going?"

"Sorry," Connor said, getting up and went to walk away, but was grabbed

"Why don't you hang out?" the man asked, vamping out, "Let's party"

Connor smiled, "You've got no idea who you're messing with, do you?"

"Huh?"

Connor smacked the vampire's arms away and slogged him across the jaw. The vampire stumbled back in surprise, as Connor followed through with a kick to the chest. Growling, the vampire swung his fist, but Connor dodged and elbowed him in the face, followed by a backhand, then throwing the vampire against the wall. The vampire snarled and whirled around with a high kick, but Connor dropped and swept his legs out, before plunging the stake through his heart

"Stupid vampire"

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"Hey, how are you feeling?"

Piper jumped in surprise and turned around to smile at Angel

"I'm fine. So, what's going on?"

"Well, we're gonna try and figure out what you've been up to. Come with me"

Piper followed Angel into another room, where Gunn, Fred, Lorne, Cordelia and Ashleigh all were, as Angel joined Cordelia on the bed

"So, what's gonna happen?" Piper asked uncertainly

"Sing us a few lines," Angel replied, "Any song you want?"

"What for?"

"I want to hear your beautiful tones," Lorne answered, "And to see your future"

"Huh?"

"You sing, he reads you and can tell you your future," Gunn simplified for her

Piper swallowed and started to sing 'The Star-Spangled Banner'. Lorne listened closely as she sang, but by the time she reached the third line, he had a look of worry upon his face. When she got to the fifth line, he jumped up and stopped her

"Okay, that'll do, thanks very much"

Then he quickly left the room. Everyone watched him go in confusion, as Angel followed after him, going to his room and knocking on the door

"Lorne?"

"Go away"

"What did you see?"

The door opened as Lorne peeked his head out

"It's pretty bad, let's put it that way"

"How bad?"

"Evil is coming, Angel. And it's here to stay"

††††††††††

Piper headed down into the lobby, looking around at the place. Gunn and Fred had come out on a job, while Angel and Cordelia were spending time together with their daughter. Looking around, Piper caught sight of a cabinet. Intrigued, she headed over, opening the cabinet, which had been baby-proofed, revealing it to be full of weapons. She stumbled back in surprise, before hearing voice. She quickly ducked behind the counter, just as Gunn placed his axe on it, red liquid dripping off the blade. Piper jumped up, scaring Gunn and Fred, before racing off upstairs

"Hey, Piper, wait!" Gunn asked

Piper headed towards her room, rounding a corner and coming across a man she hadn't seen before. Drool was dripping from his jaws and he had a hungry look in his eyes, as he looked her up and down

"You smell delicious"

Then his mouth opened up, splitting three ways and revealing rows of fangs. Piper screamed and ran downstairs, as the demon chased after her, leaping off the stairs and landing before her. However, it seized up and collapsed, as Connor removed the dagger, before holding his hand out to Piper

"Come on, it's not safe here"

"You kidding me?"

Piper and Connor left the hotel, just as Angel and Cordelia arrived with Gunn, Lorne and Fred in the lobby, seeing the demon's dead body

"What the hell is going on here?" Cordelia demanded

"One of my clients," Lorne answered, "I told him not to eat humans anymore"

"And you brought him in here," Angel said, crossing his arms over his chest, "Luckily for you, someone else got to Piper"

"Who?" Gunn asked

"Connor"

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"You'll be safe here," Connor said, "Nothing bad will get to you"

"Thanks very much," Piper smiled, "What's your name?"

"Connor. I'm – never mind actually. Here, rest"

He showed Piper to the mattress. She laid down, resting her head on the pillow, as Connor moved to the window. He had found himself an abandoned loft the other day and quickly turned it into his own accommodations, doing well for himself. There came a knock and Connor warily headed over, opening the door to reveal his father

"Hey there, Connor, is Piper here?" Angel asked

Connor looked over at Piper, who had fallen asleep, before looking back at his father

"I think she'll be staying here," Connor said

"Okay then, that'll be good then," Angel said, "Take care of her. She's kinda fragile"

"Sure. Don't worry, I will"

"Looks like you've done well for yourself"

"Goodbye, Angel"

Angel's face fell slightly and he left, as Connor closed the door and went back to the window, staring out at the night sky filled with stars

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	6. Spin the Bottle

Just a short chappie here, setting it up for the next chapter

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_One week later…_

"I have it," Lorne cried, "I have it!"

Angel and Gunn looked up from their weapons cleaning as Lorne bounded down the steps, a small bottle in his hand. It had been a tiring and strained week for Gunn, as he just recently committed murder a few days earlier, killing Fred's old professor. He was the one responsible for sending Fred to Pylea, so she was looking for some payback. However, Gunn refused to let her do it and killed the professor himself, dropping his body into a hell dimension. Now, he felt that his relationship with Fred was strained and probably would not last another week or two

"What do you have?" Cordelia asked

She was in the centre of the lobby, trying to teach Ashleigh how to crawl. So far, she wasn't having much success, which was surprising, because Connor had managed to crawl by the time he was Ashleigh's age

"I have a way to bring back Piper's memories," Lorne said, "Maybe that way, we could find out what really happened to our dear friend"

He still had a faint mark on his forehead, a result of Wolfram and Hart attacking him and siphoning out all the information he had gained from reading Piper. Angel had paid Lilah a visit, threatening her to keep away from the gang

"Okay, I'm guessing we need Piper," Angel said, "I'll get her"

"No, I will," Cordelia offered, "I was her closest friend. She might listen to me a bit better than she would you. Plus, I wanna see my son"

She handed Ashleigh to Angel and left the hotel, as Lorne began his preparations

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Connor looked up from his book when he heard the knocking at the door. He looked over at Piper, who didn't seem to take much notice, and so he answered the door, seeing his mother standing before him

"Hi, Mom, what's happening?" he asked

"I just need to borrow Piper for a while, if that's alright," Cordelia replied

"Uh, what do you need her for?"

"Lorne thinks he's found a way to bring back her memory"

Piper appeared next to Connor, looking between mother and son

"The green dude, right? He can help with my memory?"

"Sure can"

"Do you need me for this?" Connor asked

"I don't think so, Connor," Cordelia replied, "Let's go, Piper"

"Hey, Mom," Connor called before hesitating slightly, "How's Ashleigh?"

"She's doing good, sweetheart. Misses her big brother, but she's fine"

Connor nodded and went back to his book, as Cordelia and Piper left

††††††††††

Gunn and Fred were helping Lorne with the preparations for the spell when the front door opened. Thinking it was Cordelia back with Piper, Gunn looked up, anger flitting across his face when Wesley stepped inside

"What the hell are you doing here?" Gunn demanded, rising up

"I'm here for Piper," Wesley replied, "Angel called me in"

The once pompous Watcher had been replaced by a man of action, driven by pain and a desire to change himself. Wesley was sporting a five o'clock stubble, complete with short hair, sweatshirt, a long coat and denims, as well as a steely gaze in his eyes, the thin angry red scar running along his throat adding to his hardened personality

"Well, the more the merrier," Lorne smiled, "Wes, grab me the bottle from the office"

Wesley nodded and headed to the office, as Gunn followed after him

"I know why you keep coming back here"

"Because you keep needing my help," Wesley retorted, grabbing the bottle

"I'm gonna tell you this once: you move on Fred and I'll put you down hard"

"Why don't you move out of my way," Wesley said, waving Gunn aside

"No, why don't- " Gunn started, grabbing Wesley's wrist, only for a stake to shoot out of Wesley's sleeve, stopping just centimetres from Gunn's throat

"Not all of us have muscle to fall back on"

Wesley removed his wrist from Gunn's grip and walked past him

"What happened to you, man?" Gunn asked

Wesley paused, before answering,

"I had my throat slit and all my friends turned on me"

He left the office, just as Cordelia and Piper arrived back at the hotel. Gunn followed after his former best friend, as Angel came down the stairs, having just put Ashleigh to sleep

"We ready to do this?" he asked

Lorne gathered everyone around and they all sat in a circle, holding hands, as Lorne placed the magic bottle in the centre, amongst all the painted circles

"Great, more magical paint I gotta clean up," Cordelia muttered

"Hush, princess," Lorne said, before closing his eyes and muttering the spell

The bottle shook and vibrated, as the stopper popped out, following by seven white lights, as they flew into everyone, rendering them dizzy. Groaning, Lorne headed for Cordelia's office and collapsed unconscious. Angel fell upon the lounge, as Cordelia made to the stairs and fell unconscious

"This…is…so…important," Fred murmured, stroking a plant's leaves, promptly before throwing up into the pot

Piper held her head in pain and unsteadily got to her feet, before crushing the bottle under her foot, then falling back down again. Wesley was looking around the hotel as if he was stoned, while Gunn was moving around, practising martial art skills

"We just have to wait and see what happens," Wesley said giddily

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	7. Teenaged Dirtbag

**I know it has been ages since I last updated. Writer's block, work and life in general takes up a fair bit of time, but hopefully, I'll be able to start updating reguarly. Sorry for being so late with this, but here is the latest chapter**

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Liam O'Malley groaned and opened his eyes. He tried to remember the last few events, but nothing came to mind. He must have drunken himself to a stupor again. His father wouldn't be pleased, but not that Liam cared. He got to his feet, looking around and frowning at what he was seeing. Where was he? He was in a strange place. And the clothes he was wearing were completely different to what he remembered from the night before

"Where am I?" he asked himself, then groaned, "My voice. What happened?"

"Who are you guys?" Cordelia demanded, glaring her Queen C glare

"I'm Wesley Wyndam-Pryce," Wesley announced proudly, holding onto his lapels as he beamed at everyone, "I'm the Headboy at the Watcher's Academy"

"Gee, I wonder how you got that title," Cordelia said sarcastically

"With a lot of effort, I don't mind saying," Wesley said, completely missing the snark

Cordelia rolled her eyes and looked around the hotel, resting her eyes upon Liam

"Hello, salty goodness," she smiled

"I think we introduce ourselves, get to know each other," Wesley suggested

"Gunn"

"Where?!"

"That's my name. Last name anyway," Gunn said, "And why are we here?"

"Who are you people?" Piper asked, "Where am I? What's going on?"

"Please calm down," Wesley said, "Tell us your name"

"Piper. I'm Piper Combs. Who are you people?"

"What happened?" Fred asked, her eyes filled with hysteria, "Who are you guys?"

"I could say the same for you guys," Liam said, "Where am I? This isn't right"

"Everyone, please calm down," Wesley said, "Who are you, friend?" he asked Liam

"I'm not your friend. We didn't want you English pigs in Ireland"

"Ireland?" Cordelia said, "You don't sound Irish"

"Something happened to my voice," Liam said, "I can't explain it. Just like my clothes. And your clothes. And this place"

"Well, it seems that we're here for a reason," Wesley said

"Maybe it's something to do with the government," Fred piped up, "Always taking people away and doing weird experiments on them"

"Oh my God!" Cordelia cried, touching her short hair, "The government gave me bad hair!"

"Maybe the whole point of this exercise is hair," Wesley suggested

"I vote he's not in charge," Gunn said

"What are we gonna do now?" Piper asked

"As Headboy, I will be in charge," Wesley said to Gunn, "Perhaps a little kar-rate will put you into your place"

He then started performing a variety of strange and awkward moves, flicking his hands, as wood-tipped steel stakes popped out of his sleeves, surprising him and everyone else. Fred tried the same moves, hoping for stakes, but got none

"Is that a wooden stake?" Gunn asked, taking a close look

"Will someone tell me what's going on?" Cordelia demanded

"Alright, I shall tell you," Wesley said, "But be warned, you won't-"

"Vampires are real," Gunn stated simply

"I was telling! Anyhow, there is an exercise at the Watchers Council, where we are placed into a room with a very hungry and dangerous vampire. Our mission is to find the vampire and kill him"

"You guys are so full of it," Piper said, rolling her eyes, "Vampires aren't real"

Fred suddenly screamed, causing everyone to join her in the office, where Lorne was currently unconscious

"It's a demon," Fred cried, "Why is the demon sleeping?"

"Believe us now?" Wesley asked smugly

Piper gave him a sarcastic glare, as Gunn dragged Lorne into the lobby and duct-taped him to the lounge, before heading to the weapons cabinet and pulling out an axe with the blade made from a sharpened car rim. Meanwhile, Liam sat down on the stairs, head in hands and confusion on his face, as Cordelia joined him

"Bunch of crazy people, huh?" she said`

"That's putting it lightly," Liam replied

"So, what now?" Gunn asked

"We split up and search for the vampire," Wesley replied, "Once we kill the vampire, the Watchers will release us from this dreaded place"

"I'm with tall, dark and handsome here," Cordelia said, "Come on"

Weapons were handed out and the group split up. Gunn, Wesley, Fred and Piper went in one direction, as Liam and Cordelia headed upstairs, checking the rooms

"Ah, screw this search," Cordelia said, after checking the fifth room, "Why don't we just let the vampire come to us"

She dropped onto the bed, as Liam sat beside her, feeling awkward at his surroundings. Cordelia smiled as she inched closer to him

"So, what's your story?" she asked, "You say you're Irish, but you don't sound it"

"I don't know," Liam replied, "This is all so confusing"

"Ah, don't worry about it too much. At least you're easy on the eye"

Liam smiled and stared at Cordelia, as he felt hunger burning within him and his face shifted. Before he realized what was going on, he felt his face shift back to normal. Liam hurriedly ran into the bathroom, before seeing that he wasn't visible in the mirror

"I'm invisible," he cried to Cordelia

"No, I can see you," she said

Liam ducked back into the bathroom, his face shifting between human and vampire multiple times as realization dawned upon him

"I'm the vampire. And they're gonna kill me!"

Shaken by what he had discovered, Liam left the bathroom, just as Cordelia got bored, grabbed his hand and started taking him back downstairs, meeting up with the others in the lobby

"No vampire?" she asked

"Nothing," Piper replied

"What if the vampire is amongst us?" Wesley asked, brandishing a wooden cross

He raised the cross before Gunn and got punched for his effort. Holding his sore nose, Wesley handed the cross to Fred, who 'scanned' herself, before handing it to Piper. When it reached Liam, he held it out of sight, ignoring the burning pain

"See, I'm no vampire," he said, before dropping the cross, "No vampire here"

"Look, the demon's waking up," Fred said

Everyone milled around Lorne as he woke up and stared at everyone in confusion

"Did it work? And why am I tied up?"

"Tell us what you know, demon," Wesley demanded, "Where is the vampire?"

"Vampire? There's no vampire here," Lorne said, "Except for our friend there"

Everyone turned and looked at Liam, who had a deer-caught-in-headlights look on his face. Gunn gripped his axe, as Wesley tried to flick his wrist, to no avail

"I'm not a vampire," Liam protested

"Yes you are," Lorne insisted

"Shut up"

Liam struck Lorne across the face, knocking him out and sending him flying along with the lounge several feet. Wesley and Gunn stood at the ready, as Cordelia, Fred and Piper shrank back. Liam shrugged and vamped out

"Oh well, who should I go for first?" he asked

"Her," Cordelia cried, pointing at Fred, "She's half neck!"

"Prepare for oblivion, fiend," Wesley said

He flicked his wrist, as a sword extended out and stabbed Liam in the chest

"Oh sorry…I mean, ha!"

Liam uppercutted Wesley, before throwing Gunn over the counter. The three girls split up and started running. Liam decided to go for Cordelia, since she was the prettiest girl and he wanted to have some fun. So he gave chase, cornering her in a small room, grinning as he edged closer

"Stay back," Cordelia said, "I have an unholy weapon to use against you"

"Oh yeah and what's that?" Liam asked

Cordelia promptly screamed. For at least two minutes. Without taking a breath

"Wow, that is unholy," Liam said once she was done

He was instantly tackled from behind, crashing through a window and landing in an unused kitchen, as Connor jumped out after him

"That's the one," Wesley cried, tripping up over his own feet

Connor grabbed Liam and tossed him over the counter. He crashed against the stove, as Connor jumped over, grabbing a frying pan and bashing it into Liam's face. The vampire dropped to the ground, as Connor threw him along the floor. Getting up, Liam dodged Connor's fist and dived over the counter

"You afraid to fight me?" Connor asked, "Why did you attack her?"

"Is she yours?" Liam asked

"She's my mother. What are you, brain-dead?"

"Sorry to say, lad, but she looks way too young to be your mother"

Connor lunged at Liam, crashing into another counter when Liam leapt out of the way. Groaning, Connor got to his feet, ignoring the pain, before swinging his fist. Liam ducked and punched him in the stomach, then across the face. Connor backhanded him, but Liam caught his fist on the second punch and clocked him, then kicked him in the stomach. Connor stumbled, but recovered and lunged, only for Liam to grab him and throw him onto his back

"I didn't ask to be attacked. I didn't ask for this. Hell, I didn't even ask to be born"

Liam was about to make his way back upstairs, when Fred popped her head out the window, as Connor slowly got to his feet

"No more attacking each other. Come on up"

With ten minutes, everyone had gathered together in the lobby. Lorne had woken up and with Fred's help, made a small paste that set everything right. Ashleigh had woken up about that time, so Cordelia brought her downstairs, as Lorne was placing the paste on Piper's tongue. She swallowed and in an instant, all of her memories came rushing back. Overwhelmed by it all, she started running, wanting to get away from it all

"Piper!"

She turned around, as Cordelia rounded the corner, having placed her daughter in Angel's arms and followed after her friend

"Is everything alright?" Cordelia asked with concern

Piper bit her lower lip, before walking straight towards Cordelia, placing her hands on her cheeks and pulling her in for a kiss. Cordelia was caught off guard by the sudden kiss, as Piper drew back, before walking off down the hallway and disappearing from sight. Cordelia was still in shock over what happened when Angel arrived, Ashleigh in his arms

"Everything alright, honey?" he asked

Cordelia looked at him and took a step back from him, before gathering her resolve, taking Ashleigh out of his arms and heading off to her room, leaving Angel standing in the hallway with confusion all over his face

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	8. Apocalypse, Nowish

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_One week later…_

Angel looked up from his weapon cleaning when Cordelia entered the lobby, Ashleigh in her arms, as she sat down at her computer. It had been a week since they restored Piper's memories and during that time, Cordelia had been ignoring Angel completely. Every time he tried to talk to her, she would walk away, telling him to leave her alone. And since she had Ashleigh with her most of the time, Angel barely got to hang around his daughter. He didn't understand what was wrong and couldn't ask Cordelia, since she wouldn't give him a straight answer

"Hey, Angelcakes, you gonna get that?" Lorne asked, pointing to the phone

"Cordy's there," Angel replied, "I'm a little busy here"

"Well, she's not answering it. Okay, I guess I will then"

Lorne went to the counter, answering the phone, as Angel turned back to his swords, still brooding about Cordelia. He knew it had something to do Piper in some shape and form. At that moment, Fred came down the stairs, leaving the hotel, as Gunn came down five minutes later, a look of frustration on his face as he joined Lorne by the counter, just in time to answer the second phone. Within seconds, he had an address and grabbed his axe, leaving the hotel, as the phone rang again. This time, Cordelia answered the phone, as Lorne answered another call

"What's going on all of a sudden?" Angel asked

"Angel, take Ash for a moment," Cordelia said, "This is gonna be busy"

"Alright then. Come to Daddy"

Angel picked his daughter up and took her over to the weapons cabinet, as Cordelia and Lorne continued to answer the phones. Seeing as he was unable to help here, Angel decided to see if Piper and Connor were okay. He knew her memories had been restored, but wasn't sure how she was doing

"I'm heading out," he called

Cordelia and Lorne didn't look up from their phones. Shrugging, Angel hurried out to the Plymouth, buckling Ashleigh in, then driving over to Connor's small apartment, knocking on the door. Connor answered and stepped aside

"How's Piper?" Angel asked

"She's fine. I think she's fine," Connor replied

Ashleigh giggled and clapped her hands at her big brother. He gave her a small smile, before taking her out of Angel's arms, as Angel headed over to Piper

"Hey, Pipe, how's things?" he asked gently

"Oh, messed up," Piper replied, "Spent my summer in some unknown realm, come back to Earth and lose my memory, then having to regain it"

"So, in other words, you're good?"

"Yeah, I guess. Although, there's something I don't quite remember. Apart from my time out of this world. But…I remember…something bad…yeah, something bad is coming. Angel, bad things are on their way"

"Do you know what bad things?" Angel asked

"No, I don't," Piper replied, "I'm sorry"

"Okay, I'm gonna head home and let the gang know," Angel said, taking Ashleigh back from Connor, "Take care of her," he told his son

"I will…Dad"

Angel headed back to the hotel, finding Gunn there looking visibly shaken

"What happened to you?"

"The case I went on…it was rats. Hundreds of those damn things"

Smack!

Putting Ashleigh down, Angel joined Gunn by the door, seeing a dead sparrow lying on the front doorstep

"What the?" Gunn said

"Close the door!" Lorne cried

Angel and Gunn ducked back inside, as hundreds of sparrows flew into the glass doors, killing themselves and splattering the doors were blood

"What the hell is going on?" Angel asked

"Something bad is going down," Cordelia said, "We've been getting hundreds of calls, all to do with some kind of supernatural thing"

"Something bad," Angel said to himself, "Something bad. Hang on, I'll be back"

††††††††††

Connor and Piper were walking down a back alley. A few hours after Angel left, Piper had gotten a sudden feeling and left the apartment. Connor went along with her, small weapons hidden on him, his senses on high alert

"You think whatever's coming is gonna appear here?" Connor asked, looking around

"I'm not completely sure, but I think so," Piper replied, "Don't hold it to me"

"Huh?"

A rumbling stopped Piper from replying. A large crack appeared in the middle of alley, exhuming a gust of steam. Connor and Piper stood warily, as a massive creature leapt out of the crack. Standing over seven feet tall, the creature was humanoid and seemed to be made out of purple rock, with fiery red lines running all over its body, as if it had grown from hardened lava. A pair of large ribbed horns grew out and forward from the head, as the creature stared at them with gold cat-like eyes. Connor lunged at the Beast, swinging his fist and instantly regretting it. The Beast slugged him across the jaw, making him spit blood. Drawing his dagger out from his sleeve, Connor slashed at the Beast, but it caught his wrist and punched him in the chest, throwing him across the alley and into the wall

"Connor!" Piper cried

The Beast grabbed Piper by the throat, lifting her up a few feet from the ground. She coughed as the Beast stared into her eyes, seemingly searching for something. When he didn't find what he was looking for, he started to growl

"Let her go!" Connor cried

The Beast smirked at Connor, then flung Piper through the air. Connor watched as she slammed into a Dumpster and fell to the ground unmoving, as the Beast smirked and leapt out of sight. Groaning, Connor got to his feet and headed over to Piper, dropping beside her and gently pulling her into his arms. Blood trickled down her chin and he checked for her pulse, desperation overtaking him when he couldn't find one. Placing a hand over her chest, Connor became angered when he couldn't feel her heartbeat and stood up, punching the Dumpster in anger, unable to understand the emotion coming over him at Piper's death

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"Okay, got the info from Lorne's head from Lilah," Angel said, "Now, let's work it out and see what we've got here"

"A series of supernatural acts before the apocalypse?"

Everyone looked up, seeing Wesley standing before them, once more the hardened and self-disciplined ex-Watcher he trained himself to become

"Good. You're here," Angel said, "Extra hands. See what you make of this"

Wesley took the mass amount of paper from Angel and started handing pieces around, before settling down and trying to decipher the language

"So, all of this was inside my head?" Lorne asked

"Yeah, you're lucky Wolfram and Hart sucked it out," Angel said, "Otherwise, your head would have been all over the place"

"Remind me to send them a fruit basket"

The night wore on as the four tried to make sense of the scribble, but to no avail. When they were all starting to call it quits, Gunn was walking past Wesley and noticed something. Grabbing the papers, he started laying them out all over the lobby floor. Once he was done, he stood back to admire his handiwork. All the papers had parts of a puzzle, which when formed together created a symbol: a large square with an 'X' in the centre

"Alchemy sign for fire," Wesley said

"And destruction," Angel added

Lorne went to the counter, grabbing the logbook and marking out on a map

"Uh, I hate to be the demon that called Apocalypse nowish"

A symbol similar to the one on the papers was drawn on the map

"I know that place," Gunn said, "A skyscraper, some special place, lots of party people"

"Well, whatever the cause of all this is will be there," Angel said, heading to the weapons cabinet, "We'll kill it, if not, we'll bury it"

He grabbed a crossbow and tossed it to Wesley, who caught it

"You in?" Angel asked

Cordelia was upstairs with Ashleigh, as Angel, Gunn, Lorne and Wesley all went together to the location. They raced up the stairs, reaching the very top of the skyscraper and coming across a grisly scene. People were lying dead in a square, while a large, rock-like creature stood in the centre, holding another dead person by the leg

"Ah, I think I'm gonna need a bigger arrow," Lorne commented

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	9. Team Angel vs the Beast

**Yeah, I killed off Piper. I know, I'm bad. Okay, so here is the fight between Team Angel and the Beast. Enjoy**

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The Beast smirked, tossing the body over the edge of the skyscraper. Angel raced towards the Beast, as Gunn, Wesley and Lorne spread out, the latter two taking aim with their crossbows. Raising his sword, Angel swung hard. The Beast took the blow with his arm, blocking the next two strikes with his other arm and cloven foot respectively. Spinning around, Angel slashed, only to get blocked and punched. His head rang as he used the momentum of the blow to spin back around and land a kick on the Beast's chest. Stumbling, the Beast recovered, swinging his fist, but Angel blocked, bringing his sword down, then slashing at the Beast's chest. The rock-like demon grabbed the sword and wrenched it away, before backhanding Angel. He flew across the rooftop, smashing through a pillar

Gunn hurled his axe at the Beast, who snatched the weapon out of mid-air, folded the blade in half with one hand, then hurled it back at Gunn. He dived behind a table, the weapon missing him by centimetres. Angel got to his feet, drawing two small axes from inside his coat. Lunging at the Beast, he slashed with both axes, but the Beast blocked and shoved him aside. Not to be deterred, Angel swung, one axe following after the other, clashing against the Beast's cheek and creating sparks. The Beast swung his arm, but Angel followed on through with the move, ducking and spinning under the Beast's arm, slashing him across the leg with one axe, then rising and slashing the Beast across the stomach, all in one fluid movement

The Beast knocked Angel aside, as Wesley and Lorne took aim with their crossbows and fired. As Angel moved in for another attack, the Beast deflected the bolts with his arm, directing them straight into Angel. He groaned when the bolts impaled him, as the Beast then grabbed him and threw him into Wesley and Lorne as they were reloading, taking them down. Gunn leapt up from behind the table, brandishing a sword and he charged at the Beast, swinging hard and furiously. The Beast blocked all of his blows, before seeing an opening and grabbing Gunn by the throat, tossing him through the air. Gunn hit the ground, sliding along straight into a table. Wesley rose up from the mess, drawing out a pair of handguns from inside his coat. He took aim, firing at the Beast and striking him in the chest, whilst moving around into a better position. The Beast took the hits, the bullets bouncing off him

Running out of ammo, Wesley dropped his handguns aside, as the Beast touched his chest in slight amusement. It was then that Wesley drew out a pump-action shotgun from his coat, taking aim and pulling the trigger. The Beast was rocked back by the power of the shotgun, as Wesley closed the distance, firing and pumping the shotgun, his last shot slamming into the Beast's face and bringing him down to his knees. Standing before him like a man about to deliver another's judgement, Wesley cocked the shotgun and lowered the barrel to the Beast's face. However, the Beast smiled, grabbing the shotgun and shoving Wesley aside, then rising up and chuckling

"Hold the laughs, chuckles," Angel said; removing a bolt from his chest, "We're just getting started"

He lunged at the Beast, catching him in the face with a full-force blow. The Beast reeled back slightly, before swinging his own fist. Angel stopped the blow and delivered two swift strikes to his torso, followed by an uppercut. Moving quickly, Angel struck the Beast across the face, then followed through with a spinning backhand. The Beast saw an opening and tried to use it, swinging his fist, but Angel was quicker, deflecting his fist and punching him in the face, then struck him again. The Beast staggered back, then brought his fist down overhead. Angel blocked with both arms, but the move pushed him to his knees, as the Beast then uppercutted him. Angel soared through the air, but twisted his body so he landed on his feet on a window ledge. As he rose up, his face shifted and he bared his fangs

The Beast smirked, as Angel jumped down from the ledge, ducking under a punch. Rising up, Angel punched the Beast across the face, then pulled off a spinning roundhouse kick, causing the Beast to stagger. He recovered quickly, but it wasn't quick enough, as Angel continued to pummel him, delivering three blows to the Beast's ribs before he could react. Blocking his next punch, Angel moved to the side, punching the Beast across the face, then delivered a straight kick to the back of the Beast's legs, bringing him to his knees. Flicking his wrist, Angel brought a wooden stake out, then pulled the Beast's head back and drove the stake towards his eye. The Beast caught Angel's wrist an inch from his eye, the pair entering a power struggle. The Beast quickly won, pulling Angel off-balance, then in the same movement, snapping the stake off and ramming it into the side of Angel's throat

Angel's face shifted back to normal and he gasped, blood trickling from his lips, as blood welled up around the stake. The Beast smirked, rising up and grabbing Angel by the lapels of his coat

"Do you really think you stand a chance in this?" he asked

Then, the Beast tossed Angel off the skyscraper. He disappeared over the edge, spiralling out of sight, as Gunn cried out, watching helplessly as his friend plummeted towards the ground. The Beast stood in the centre of the bodies, mocking him with a sneer. Gunn and Wesley moved towards the Beast, but he slammed his fist into the ground, flames spreading from his fist, reaching into the corners of the square. A wall of fire rose up on all four sides, as the Beast disappeared from sight. The flames shot up into the air, throwing Gunn and Wesley aside and Lorne through a skylight. The flames rose up into the sky, turning it fiery black and red, as fireballs started to rain down from the black clouds. Wesley got up and headed over to the unconscious Gunn, taking him away from the scene, as Lorne joined them, blood trickling from a wound on his head

Meanwhile, down on an alley floor, Angel rolled over, removing the stake from his throat and gasping as blood ran from the wound. He looked up into the sky; despair washing over him as he watched the fireballs rain down, sadness rising up inside him as he realized that for once, he had failed to vanish the evil and now mankind was paying for his failure

Lilah Morgan stood at her office window, watching the fireballs rain down. For once, she felt scared, even though she refused to show it. A new evil was here in Los Angeles and she had a feeling that it could spell doom for her and the company. She already knew that Angel had lost the fight and now the city was paying for his loss

Connor looked up from Piper's body, seeing the fireballs soaring overhead. He knew straightaway that it was his fault. If he had been able to destroy the Beast, Piper wouldn't be dead and Los Angeles wouldn't have fireballs raining upon it. He had failed to defeat the Beast and everyone around him were paying the price for it. He knew he had to get out of the alley and to shelter, but he couldn't leave Piper there. He lifted up her body, groaning in pain from the broken ribs, before setting off

††††††††††

Cordelia and Fred looked up when the men trooped in. Wesley placed a now-conscious Gunn on the lounge, as Fred rushed to his side. Lorne headed to the front counter and started making himself a seabreeze, as Cordelia grabbed the first-aid kits and handed one to Fred, before patching up Lorne's injury

"Where's Angel?" Fred asked

"He'll be on his way," Wesley replied

At that moment, Angel staggered inside, his body still working to repair the injuries he'd sustained. His neck wound had closed up, while the arrow wounds had healed completely. Ignoring everyone, he made his way upstairs, collapsing on the bed in his room. It was a few more minutes before Cordelia entered the room

"Angel, are you okay?"

"Am I okay? I was just nearly decapitated by my own stake and thrown off a skyscraper. On top of that, you're not even talking to me, so yeah, I'm okay"

"Angel…there's a reason why I'm not talking to you"

"Thrill me," Angel deadpanned, moving into a sitting position

"Not long after Piper regained her memories, she kissed me," Cordelia explained, "And she gave me all these memories. They're all about you. Or more precisely, Angelus. All that you've done as Angelus"

"I'm never hidden from what I've done," Angel said, "You know that"

"Seeing it is different from knowing," Cordelia said, "I saw everything Angelus did. All those people you tortured and killed. Over a hundred years of it. I saw it all"

"So, you won't talk to me or come near me simply because you have seen my entire history as Angelus and it completely scares you?" Angel said

"I'm sorry, Angel, but I think we need some time apart so I can work through this. I love you, but I just can't be with you right now"

Cordelia gave him a sad smile and left the room. Angel watched her go, before growling, letting out an angry cry and driving his fist into the wall

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	10. Habeus Corpus

**Thanks for the reviews, guys. And SylviaMoon, no, Piper wasn't evil. As for the Beast's Master, well....**

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Lilah Morgan looked up when Connor came into her office, carrying Piper's body. She leaned back in her chair, an amused look on her face as Angel's son placed the body before her desk

"I know your company," Connor said, "You have a lot of ties in magical places. I know you have the power to bring her back"

"And why would I do that?" Lilah asked, "What's in it for me?"

"I could give you Angel," Connor replied, "Can you do it?"

"And what makes you think I want Angel?"

As she said this, she pressed a button under her desk, summoning two guards. They entered the room and reached for Connor, but he whirled around, taking them down with two swift blows. Lilah was surprised by Connor's strength and speed. As far as she knew, he was simply human, yet he was showing the same supernatural abilities that Angel possessed. However, she didn't get much more time to think about it, as the alarms suddenly went off. Lilah frowned, rising up from her chair, as shouting could be heard downstairs, followed by gunfire and blood-curling screams

"What's going on?" Lilah asked

"He's here," Connor replied

He left the office in search of the Beast, as Lilah grabbed a handgun from her desk and checked it for ammo, before leaving her office. Connor crept down a corridor, stepping around the dead bodies, as a guard suddenly landed before him, his throat torn out. Connor stepped around the corner, seeing the Beast pulverize an armed guard. Drawing his dagger, Connor moved in stealthily, lunging at the last moment and striking, but the blade snapped off. The Beast straightened, turned around and smiled, before uppercutting Connor. He flew through the air, landing several feet away from the Beast. He got to his feet, blood trickling down his chin, as the Beast started after him. Connor took off, as the Beast smiled and gave chase

Lilah was heading to the third floor, where an escape hatch resided. The entire building had gone into lockdown, with nothing getting in or out. She stepped around the dead bodies of her co-workers, including Gavin Park. She reached the third floor, just as Connor raced towards her, grabbing her by the hand and dragging her behind him. She looked over her shoulder, seeing the Beast following them, as Connor led her into an office and locked the door

"That's not gonna help," she said

"It'll give us some time," Connor replied

The doors blew off their hinges, as the Beast entered. He smirked, as Lilah took aim and fired her handgun. The bullets bounced off the Beast, as he made his way towards her. Connor struck the Beast across the face, followed by an uppercut. The Beast glared at him, before backhanding him across the room and into a pillar. The handgun clicked, as the Beast punched Lilah in the ribs, drawing blood. She groaned, getting to her feet and leaving the office. The Beast gave chase, leaving Connor behind, as Lilah was suddenly grabbed and pulled aside

"Wesley? How the hell did you get in?" Lilah asked, "How'd you know?"

"Inside man," Wesley replied, "He managed to tell me about the secret entrance just before his throat was torn out"

Popping the pins on two grenades, Wesley threw them at the Beast, before holding Lilah close to him as the grenades exploded. The Beast still came towards them, as Wesley and Lilah took off for the secret exit in the storage cabinet. They found the door and slid down the hatch, landing in the sewer

"Go, hid underground, change your name," Wesley said

"Connor's still up there," Lilah said, "And Wes? Thank you"

Wesley gave her a small smile, planting a quick kiss on her cheek, then hurried off, as Lilah pressed her hand to her injury, stemming the flow, before heading off herself

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Angel was in a mood. His neck was still sore from the previous night, it hurt to use his back and Cordelia was avoiding him simply because she was afraid of him. It was at that moment when Wesley burst inside the hotel

"Wolfram and Hart is under attack from the Beast"

"So, it's doing our job for us," Gunn said, "Why should we care?"

"It's killed everyone," Wesley replied, "And Connor's trapped inside"

"What do you mean, 'trapped inside'?"

"When the company underwent attack, it went into lockdown. Nothing can get in or out. So that's what I mean by he's trapped there"

"How did you get out?" Angel asked

"Secret entrance"

"Alright, let's go"

"Angel, are you sure about this?" Cordelia asked, "Last time you faced the Beast, it kicked your ass ten different shades of purple"

"Cordy, right at this moment, I don't really care," Angel said, "Or didn't you hear Wesley? My son is trapped inside Wolfram and Hart with the Beast. And I'm going to save him. You can come along if you want or stay here"

Angel grabbed himself a broadsword and started handing out weapons. Cordelia handed Ashleigh to Lorne, before grabbing a sword, as Angel looked at her

"Connor's my son too and I'm not leaving him at the hands of the Beast," she said

"Come on, let's go," Angel said

††††††††††

"How high is this?" Gunn asked, staring up into the escape hatch

"About thirty metres," Wesley replied

Angel grabbed the rope and leapt up into the hatch, before dropping the rope to them

"Show-off," Gunn muttered, grabbing onto the rope and climbing up

Once everyone was inside the building, they split up and headed off in separate directions. Gunn, Wesley and Fred went together towards the ground floor, while Angel and Cordelia made their way to the upper levels, stepping around the bodies littering the floors. They didn't notice that a few bodies had suddenly disappeared after they avoided them. Angel had his senses on alert, trying to catch hold of Connor's scent, as Cordelia followed close behind

"Angel"

"Shh. Not now, Cordelia"

"Angel, listen to me"

"Cordy. Don't. Not now. Let's not talk about it"

Cordelia sighed and looked behind her, just as a zombie lunged at her. She screamed, caught off guard as the zombie tackled her. Angel lifted the zombie off her with one hand, then used his other hand to snap the zombie's neck, before helping Cordelia up. She brushed herself off, as Angel stepped around the corner, getting hit from the side. He pushed back, throwing Connor against the wall. Surprised to see his son alive, Angel drew him into a hug, as Cordelia did the same

"You okay?" Cordelia asked

"I'm fine, Mom," Connor replied, "The Beast is still here"

"Well, we're getting the hell out of here," Angel said

He rounded the corner, seeing that all the dead bodies had been reanimated into zombies, all coming towards them. Angel, Cordelia and Connor headed off into a different direction, breaking open a door and meeting up with the others

"They're all over the place," Gunn said, "We can't get back to the exit"

"Elevator," Angel said, "We'll go to the White Room"

"There's no power," Wesley said

"Oh, I think I can fix that," Fred said, "Come on"

The group hurried off towards the elevator. Angel bashed a zombie in the face with his sword hilt, as Gunn took out another zombie. They reached the elevator, all cramming in, as the zombies started to close in on them. Fred went to work on the electronics, as the zombies got closer

"Hey, I know him," Gunn said, before stepping out and killing Gavin Park, "Hate seeing people I know like that. Even people I hate"

"Angel, look," Cordelia said

A zombified Piper was coming towards them, as Angel looked at Connor

"The Beast killed her," Connor explained, "I brought her to bring her back to life"

"That would be one road you don't want to go down," Angel said

He grabbed Cordelia's sword and threw it straight into Piper's head, killing her instantly, just as Fred restored the power. Angel pressed the combination, as a large white button appeared. He pressed it, the elevator taking them to the White Room. However, the Beast was already there, draining the evil energy out of the little girl

"The answer is amongst you," she said to the team

The Beast finished draining her energy, finally killing her, before straightening and facing the group. Angel stood at the front, his sword at the ready as the Beast moved towards them. However, with her very last breath, the little girl teleported the team out of the White Room and back to the Hyperion

"The answer is amongst you?" Gunn asked, "What the hell is that all about?"

"We have more pressing matters," Wesley said, "Such as what the Beast plans to do with the energy he took from the conduct"

He grabbed a book and started reading, as the group all split up and went in their own directions. Connor left the hotel for his apartment, while Fred went to her room

"Angel?" Wesley called after a few hours, "There's nothing here"

"What do you mean there's nothing here?" Angel asked

"There is not a single reference to the Beast whatsoever. It's like it doesn't exist"

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	11. The RaTet

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"We've got nothing on the Beast whatsoever?" Angel asked

"Sorry to say, but that is true," Wesley replied, "It's like the Beast doesn't exist. Whatever references there were, it all has been wiped clean"

"What would have the power to do that?" Cordelia asked, "Now we have no way of finding out any weaknesses or whatever it could be planning"

"Maybe I could help," came a voice

Everyone turned around to see Gwen Raiden standing before them. She smiled sheepishly at Gunn, the memory of his death all too clear, before giving the same smile to Angel, the memory of their kiss also all too clear

"Really?" Cordelia asked, "How can you help?"

"I was doing business with a client when the Beast killed him," Gwen replied, "Simply tore him apart. And this bright light appeared when my client died"

"Did he have anything on him at the time of his death?" Wesley asked

"Yeah, he had this relic thing. The Beast took it from his chest"

Wesley started going through his books, eventually coming across one and showing the page to Gwen

"Which one did he look like?"

"That one there," Gwen said, pointing out the picture

"The Ra-Tet," Wesley said, "The little girl in the White Room. She was one of the Ra-Tet. And Gwen's client? Another one. Two down out of four"

"Who are the Ra-Tet?" Fred asked

"Mystical beings. They help the god Ra sail across the sky when the sun rises. If you kill all four Ra-Tets and use their relics, you can blot out the sun and bring darkness"

"So that's what the Beast is doing," Gunn said, "Bringing out darkness"

"And with it, all the vampires and demons will be having a free-for-all," Angel said, "Wesley, do you know where another one of these guys are?"

"Um, this sabretooth one was last seen in Death Valley"

"Great, I'll go to Death Valley and bring the kitty in"

"Angel, you're not going alone," Cordelia said, "And it's a four hour drive each way"

"Don't worry, I'll take Gwen," Angel said, "I'm sure there's something we can talk about"

He grabbed his coat and a sword, before leaving with Gwen, as Cordelia crossed her arms and glared at his retreating back

"Don't worry princess," Lorne said, "He'll come back to you. He always does"

††††††††††

_Four hours later, in Death Valley…_

Angel and Gwen made their way down the cliff side, before making their way to the cave. However, once they entered the cave, they found a grisly scene. The sabretooth cat Ra-Tet had been literally torn apart, its body parts all over the place

"Damn, we're too late," Angel said

"Who are you people?"

A short, stout man wearing a Hawaiian shirt and straw hat stepped out from another room. Angel raised an eyebrow at the seemingly ordinary man

"Who are you?"

"I am Manjet, one of the Ra-Tet. Off days I like Manny. Hey, if I pay you, will you give me a lap dance?" he asked Gwen

Her hand crackled with electricity, but Angel stopped her

"I'm Angel and this is Gwen. We're here to protect you"

"Oh yeah, Superhunk and Spandexia. Here to protect me? Think she'll give a lap dance?"

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_Five hours later, at Gwen's residence…_

"You'll be safe here," Gwen said, "This entire place is monitored"

"Whoa," Gunn said, taking in the massive mansion, "How'd you pay for this?"

"The Axis of Pythis sure came in handy"

"Very nice place," Manny said, looking around, "I'll be comfy here"

Gwen placed him in the panic room and gave him a handful of men's magazines

"Okay, we'll do shifts," Gwen said, "I'll go first with Denzel, Angel, you go with Cordelia and Wesley can guard with Fred"

"Sounds good to me," Gunn grinned

Everyone went to get some rest while Gwen and Gunn kept guard. After two hours, they changed their shift with Angel and Cordelia. However, the couple sat a distance from each other, refusing to talk to each other. Angel was still upset over Cordelia's comment about his past, while Cordelia was maintaining her distance from her lover. Knowing Angel wouldn't talk to her, she preoccupied herself with a book, sipping her coffee, while Angel stared angrily into space, sipping his blood

Within an hour, Angel and Cordelia were getting woken up. Gunn shook Cordelia awake, while Gwen zapped Angel with her electric powers, shocking him awake

"Great one, falling asleep on the job," Gwen fumed

"Check Manny," Angel said

Gwen went to the panic room with Gunn, opening it and finding Manny's body lying on the floor, his head split open and his blood sprayed all over the walls. Gwen went to the control room, checking all the video feeds, showing that the cameras died ten minutes before Angel and Cordelia started their shift

"Well, this is not good," Angel growled, "Wesley, what is the Beast after?"

"He's after these objects," Wesley replied, showing him a book, "When combined together, he can perform a spell to blot out the sun and bring permanent darkness"

"Wait a minute, those are metal, aren't they?" Gwen asked, pointing to a picture of wings that were part of the totem, "Get me close and I could melt them"

"Yeah, but we gotta work out where he's doing the mojo," Gunn said

"The answer is amongst you," Angel muttered, "Connor!"

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Connor was lying on his bed, reading a book that his mother had given him, when a knock came at the door. Thinking it might either his mother or father, Connor got up from the bed and answered the door, seeing the Beast before him

"Hello, Connor"

Connor turned away from the door and started running, as the Beast walked into the room. Leaping at a wooden post, Connor pushed off and spun around in mid-air, kicking the Beast in the face. The Beast growled and brought his fist down overhead. Connor blocked the blow with both arms, but the move pushed him to his knees, as the Beast then slugged him across the face, before tossing him out of the window. Connor fell three stories, slamming into the road, just as the Plymouth pulled up. Angel quickly ran to the shadows, as Cordelia dropped beside her son, pulling him into her lap and brushing his hair away from his face, while the others joined Angel on the doorstep, Wesley and Fred carrying banishment spells

"Oh baby," Cordelia cried, "It's okay. Mom's here. It's gonna be okay"

"Dad, he's in there," Connor called

"It's okay, Connor, I'm here now," Angel said, dropping the blanket aside

Drawing his sword, he entered the building, followed by Gunn, Gwen, Wesley and Fred. They entered Connor's apartment, where the Beast was performing his spell. He looked up and smiled when the group entered, rising up to his full height

"It is futile what you are planning to do"

"I'm gonna try anyway," Angel growled

He ran forward, striking with his sword. The Beast blocked the blows and shoved him aside, as Gunn moved in, slashing with his sword, while Gwen delivered a kick to the Beast's chest. Wesley and Fred started performing a banishing spell, as Angel slashed the Beast across the face. He was booted in the stomach for his troubles, sliding along the floor, as the Beast backhanded at Gwen, but she ducked and rolled, kicking him in the groin. Gunn slashed the Beast along the chest and got belted, as the Beast then smacked Gwen aside, before continuing his own spell. A beam of energy shot from the small totem, blasting through the ceiling and reaching up into the sky, just as Wesley and Fred completed the spell. A portal opened up behind the Beast, as Angel, Gunn and Gwen struck at the same time, knocking the Beast into the portal. However, it was too late. The spell had been done. Connor and Cordelia watched as the sun was covered by black energy, which then spread across the sky, instantly turning it dark

"I told you you didn't stand a chance"

Angel and the others whirled around, seeing the Beast before them

"I made you an offer all those years ago. Why do you fight against me, Angelus?"

Smirking, the Beast then leapt out of the window, disappearing from sight. Confused, the group left the apartment, joining Cordelia and Connor, who was now healing

"Angel, I had a vision," Cordelia said, "It was you, well Angelus, standing in a field of bodies and you were talking to the Beast"

"Well, he did just call Angel Angelus," Gunn said

"I don't know the Beast," Angel protested, "I've never met him before"

"Well, I guess that means only one thing," Wesley said, "We need Angelus"

††††††††††


	12. Awakening

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The sorcerer sat cross-legged in his room, going over his magical bones, while muttering enchantments under his breath and ignoring the sounds of combat coming from the next room. A final punch was heard and a man came flying into the room, landing unconscious before the sorcerer, as Wesley entered the room

"I've heard you know how to extract souls," Wesley said, "I need your assistance"

"And what soul do you need me to take?" Wo-Pang asked

"The soul of a vampire"

††††††††††

Angel looked up when Wesley entered the room with a heavily robed man. Only his eyes could be seen from within his plum robes

"Who's he?" Angel asked

"This is Wo-Pang. He's here to perform the soul extraction"

"I don't want him here"

"Fred, could you please take care of our guest?" Wesley asked, ignoring Angel

Fred nodded and left the lobby with Wo-Pang, as Angel joined Wesley

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" he whispered angrily

"You know as well as I that the only way we have a chance of defeating the Beast is by bringing Angelus forth," Wesley replied, "It's our only chance"

"Well, I'm not doing it. You know as well as I the damage that Angelus can inflict"

Angel stormed past Wesley and headed out into the garden. Cordelia excused herself from tending to Connor's injuries, following Angel out into the garden

"I overheard you and Wesley talking"

"Congratulations to you," Angel said moodily, before sitting down

"Look, I don't agree with Wesley. I've had my experienced with Angelus before. And now that you and I have children, we can't do it. Connor might be able to defend himself, but about Ashleigh? She's just starting to walk and talk"

"I know, Cordy. I'm not doing it because of the kids. I can't put them at that risk"

"I know, but Wesley is right. Angelus is the only way we can stop the Beast"

"You know what will happen if he was ever to get free," Angel said, "He will kill you all. And he will do it slowly and painfully. Because that's how I am"

"Not true," Cordelia said, "I know the difference between you and Angelus. I know that now. And I'm sorry for what I've done to you lately"

"It's okay, Cordy, it's okay. We'll find another way to defeat the Beast"

"Look, Angel, I saw that vision and you were with the Beast. Angelus might know how to defeat him. Why try to find another and possibly futile way when the answer could be in your head?"

"Because I know the risk involved in trying to get that answer," Angel replied, "I'm sorry, Cordy, but it's just not happening"

"Angel, it's the only way. I know it's not the right way, but it's the only way. Who knows, maybe Angelus would be able to outsmart the Beast and kill him"

"Are you saying that Angelus is smarter than me?"

"I never said that. I simply implied it"

Angel got up from the seat and headed back inside, as Cordelia followed after him, confusion on her face. Ashleigh smiled and clapped her hands when she saw her parents. Connor picked his sister up and took her over to their mother

"Alright, this is what I want to happen," Angel said

††††††††††

Within a couple of hours, a sturdy steel cage had been erected in the basement. Gunn and Connor performed the finishing touches, while Wesley was talking with Wo-Pang. Angel felt uneasiness in his chest at what he was about to do and cast a glance at Cordelia playing with Ashleigh, who looked so much like her mother

"Connor, come here, son," Angel said

Connor finished his work and joined his father

"What I'm about to become, just remember, he's not your father, okay?"

"Yeah, okay then," Connor said

"Look after your mother and sister. Protect the others. I know you can. And remember, should anything go wrong, I want you to stake me"

"Okay, sure"

"_If_ something goes wrong"

Connor nodded and sat down on the stairs, as Wesley and Gunn checked the cage

"All ready to go," Gunn said, "This ain't coming down under any circumstances"

Angel let out a heavy sigh, before entering the cage and lying on the table, as Wesley strapped him down, before letting Wo-Pang into the cage and locking the door after him. The group gathered around the cage, as Angel gave them all one last look, then closed his eyes, as Wo-Pang placed his hand on Angel's head, before muttering the spell. Angel felt the magic working throughout his body. Everyone's nerves were on edge, Cordelia's more so than others. She knew from experience what Angelus was capable of. It didn't exactly help that she had two children to Angel, because she knew that Angelus would do his best to bring her down. Angel let out a gasp and opened his eyes, as Wo-Pang held up a large glass bottle, which was containing a white light. Angel looked at his friends; his eyes no longer warm, but now holding evilness and a touch of coldness within them. And as he stared at them, he let out a low, evil cackle that seemed to reverberate around the basement

"Angelus," Cordelia whispered

††††††††††


	13. Guess Who's Back

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Wesley placed the Mo-Ping into the safe in the office, before locking up the safe

"Remember, Angel is gone," Wesley said, "What we have downstairs is a vicious creature. Ignore what he says. He likes to play mind games. Anything else, Cordy?"

"Um, don't get too close to the cage," Cordelia said, "Other than that, just ignore what Angelus says to you. He'll try to turn us against each other"

"Taking out Angel's soul and putting it into a jar," Gunn said, "I hope we know what we're doing"

Cordelia headed out into the lobby, where a small TV had been set up to monitor Angelus. He was currently sitting the corner of his cage, humming to himself

"So, that's Angelus?" Connor asked, arriving next to his mother

"He's not your father. Keep that in mind. First chance he could get, Angelus will kill you," Cordelia said, "No remorse. Where's Ashleigh?"

"She's upstairs asleep"

"Good. It's best she stays up there"

"I'm going to talk to Angelus," Wesley said, carrying a crossbow, "See if I can get some answers from him"

"Think you'll be okay with him?" Cordelia asked

"I've been preparing for this day my whole life and yet, I'm not ready. But thanks for the concern, I think I'll be fine"

Wesley headed down into the basement, as the others gathered around the TV, watching the ex-Watcher make himself comfortable across from the cage

"Hey, Wes, how's things?" Angelus asked, getting up

"As fine as things could be. You? Are you comfortable in there?"

"Could do with a chair. Let's stop beating around the bush. You want answers on the big bad Beastie boy, right?"

"That is correct," Wesley replied, "How do you know him?"

"Why would I tell you anything?" Angelus asked, "What could you do to me?"

"Worse comes to worse, I could just kill you"

"Wait til they drop, Wes, then try that line again. You've got no leverage against me"

"The Beast. How do you know him?" Wesley asked

"How's Fred? She's so sweet and delicious. Isn't it wonderful that she's no longer with Gunn? No more playing around, you can just take her right now. Bend her over the table and claim her as your own," Angelus said, slamming the bars

"Is that supposed to frighten me?"

"Is it working?"

"Hardly"

"Cause you're not the pathetic Watcher who's always failing to live up to his expectations. Change of clothing, personality, a little stubble and still, none of that will ever change the fact of how useless you really are," Angelus said, "Like for example, that prophecy last year. The one involving my son. Boy, Wes, wasn't that a bang-up job, kidnapping the fruit of my loins. Luckily you didn't take the other, otherwise you wouldn't be here now, would you?"

"An unfortunate mistake that happened," Wesley said, "Now, the Beast"

"I'm hungry," Angelus said, "Who's a guy gotta kill to get a drink around here?"

Wesley sighed and headed up to the lobby

"He wants blood"

"Oh, he'll get some alright," Gunn said

He and Fred headed down into the basement five minutes later with a tray carrying a cup of blood. Gunn had his crossbow aimed at Angelus as Fred headed over

"Oh, Fred, you look so sweet," Angelus smirked, "Tell me, Charlie boy, how does it feel to rub your shiny dome against her soft, milk white skin?"

"This coming from a guy who can't get any," Gunn said, "Ever. Away from the cage"

Angelus smiled, raising his hands and stepping away from the cage, as Fred edged closer with the tray. She reached the cage, as Angelus grabbed the cup and took a small sip, then smiled. Suddenly, he kicked the tray, knocking Fred towards him, then grabbing her by the throat and pinning her to the cage

"Now, I'm gonna get some"

"Fred!"

Gunn was unable to fire at Angelus because he was using Fred as a shield, so he tossed the crossbow aside and rushed to Fred, trying to break her out of Angelus' grip, but he was too strong for him

Pamf! Pamf!

Angelus' grip lessened and he eventually collapsed on the floor, unconscious with two tranquilliser darts sticking out of his chest. Gunn pulled Fred close to him, as Wesley headed to the cage, tranquilliser gun in hand

"You must always be on your guard around him," he said, "Always"

He then headed back up into the lobby, as Gunn and Fred came up a few minutes later. Cordelia, Lorne and Connor weren't anywhere in sight, as Wesley went to the office. He was just hoping that his plan with Angelus would work. The rest of the team were counting on him to pull them through

"Hey, I just wanna say thanks," came Fred's voice

Wesley turned around to face the young woman. He had been in love with her since bringing her back from Pylea, but he couldn't bring himself to admit his feelings. There was the whole incident with Billy Blim, then Fred started dating Gunn, which inadvertently led to Connor's kidnapping and Wesley's firing. And even though he was in a relationship with Lilah, he still loved Fred with all his heart

"Angelus is a dangerous creature," Wesley said, "You must remember that"

"I know. I feel foolish for letting my guard down around him"

"Don't"

Wesley then suddenly grabbed Fred and pulled her in for a quick kiss. She drew back, looking into his eyes, then kissed him back, their kiss quickly becoming passionate

"Hey, anyone watching the-" came Gunn's voice

Fred and Wesley drew back from one another just as Gunn came into the office

"Okay, what's going on?"

"Nothing," Fred replied quickly

"Something happened and I wanna know"

"I'll go interrogate our guest," Wesley said

"Hold on, English, you ain't going anywhere," Gunn said, "I thought I told you not to move on Fred. Didn't I tell you that?"

"Guys, this is stupid," Fred said

"Hey, what's with all the voices?" asked Cordelia, carrying Ashleigh

"Face it, Gunn, you can't keep her satisfied," Wesley mocked

Wham!

Wesley's head reeled back from the blow, as Gunn clenched his fist and swung again. This time, Wesley ducked and struck Gunn in the stomach, followed by a blow to the jaw. Gunn reeled back, but he managed to block Wesley's fist, grabbing him by the front of his shirt, just as Fred tried to pull him off. caught up in anger, Gunn drove his fist back into Fred, knocking her down, then striking Wesley, who kicked him in the stomach. Stumbling back, Gunn then realized that Fred was on the floor

"Fred…I'm sorry," he said, as Cordelia helped Fred to her feet

Meanwhile, Connor had slipped into the basement unnoticed, just as Angelus was waking up. He groaned, getting to his feet, before seeing his son and smiling

"So, this is Angelus, the guy who's got everyone all worked up?" Connor said

"Hello, son," Angelus said, "Boy, you look like your mother a lot"

"She's a wonderful person. Don't know why she'd go for you"

"It's because I'm such a charming and intelligent person. Besides, you wouldn't be here and neither would your sister if your mother didn't go for me"

"Angel told me that you weren't my father"

"I'm gonna cry"

"But you are my real father. Angel is just something you're forced to wear"

"Wanna come on over and give your old man a hug then?"

"Angel told me to kill you should things go wrong"

"Step right up and take your shot. You won't beat me"

"You think so?"

"Oh, I know so"

Connor was edging closer to the reach line. Angelus was waiting with a small smile, when Cordelia appeared in the basement

"Connor. Upstairs"

"No"

"Connor, don't tell me no. Go upstairs now"

"You're lucky," Connor said to Angelus with a sneer, before leaving

"Yeah, go to your room, mama's boy!" Angelus called

"That's enough now," Cordelia said, "I think you've caused enough damage today"

She then removed the wire connected to the camera, shutting it off

"Cordy, Cordy, Cordy," Angelus said in an impressed tone

"You should know I'm not scared of you," Cordelia said, pacing alongside Angelus, "I'm here to offer you a deal"

"Yeah and what kind of deal is that?" Angelus asked, "You'll set me free? Come to think about it, I wouldn't mind that new Mustang"

"Something better"

"What's better than a Mustang?"

"Me," Cordelia replied, "Tell us everything you know about the Beast and you can have me"

"Babe, I've already had you. Twice! And look what I got out of that. Kids!"

"I mean, you have me anyway you want," Cordelia said, "Anything you want to do me, you can. Tell us about the Beast"

"Well, there are a few things I wouldn't mind doing to that body. Apart from the obvious"

"Do we have a deal?" Cordelia asked

Angelus simply smirked at her

††††††††††


	14. Angelus' Tale

††††††††††

Connor stumbled back, falling onto a newspaper stand. He quickly grabbed a stack and smacked a vampire across the face with it, then punched him aside, as another vampire grabbed Connor and threw him to the ground. Rolling to his feet, Connor struck a third vampire, as the first vampire landed a straight blow to his face, then delivered a kick to his stomach, throwing him against a toll booth

"Let me guess, from out of town?" Connor asked, his nose bleeding

"Yeah, came over from Tuscany," a vampire replied

"Welcome to LA"

The vampire growled and charged at Connor, who leapt over him, knocking him into the window. Pulling him out, Connor drove a stake into his heart, as the other two vampires charged at him. Smirking, Connor struck one vampire, then kicked at the other, who caught his leg, but Connor brought his other leg around, cracking the vampire in the head. Landing, Connor shoved the first vampire onto a car bonnet, then backhanded the second vampire, before staking the first. The last vampire snarled and swung his fist, but Connor blocked, then elbowed him, before throwing him over his shoulder, then staking him

"Hm, tourists," Connor said

††††††††††

"He's decided to talk," Cordelia announced

"And what made him decide to talk?" Wesley asked curiously

Cordelia didn't answer. Meanwhile, Angelus was sitting in the corner, singing a small tune, as Lorne watched him from the TV, reading him

"What you get?" Gunn asked

"Trust me, you don't wanna know," Lorne replied

"Cordelia, I believe I should know," Wesley said

"No, you don't. Now go down there and ask him before he changes his mind"

Wesley sighed, grabbing the crossbow and heading down to the basement

"So, you've decided to talk?" Wesley said, sitting down, "Thrill me"

"Okay then, Wes," Angelus said, "1798"

"You were in Prussia"

"Oh, you have been doing your homework. 1798, Prussia. Just passing through when I came across a field of bodies. Savage with a touch of sloppy"

"That's where you met the Beast?" Wesley asked

"He'd stage the carnage to impress me. Said he needed my help?"

"With what?"

"A group of priestesses. Svear Priestesses. High into banishing. The Beast was next on their list. He couldn't touch them, but a vampire could"

"Ah, he wanted you to kill them"

"Yeah, I scratch his back, he'd scratch mine sometime down the track. But, I said no. He didn't ask twice. While I was busy with the passing out, the priestesses arrived and sent him to whatever hell dimension he came back from"

"Svear Priestesses?" Fred asked, "Where are we gonna find them?"

"Here, at this address," Gunn said, showing her the phonebook

††††††††††

Twenty minutes later, Cordelia, Wesley and Connor had arrived at the address. Wesley rang the bell, but no one answered. When no one had shown up by the second ring, Wesley kicked the door open. Connor moved in first, as Cordelia followed in at the end, entering the lounge room and coming across the slaughtered family

"Oh God, we're too late," Cordelia said

"They've been dead for a few days," Wesley said, "Seems like the Beast got them"

Meanwhile, Connor had gone back out into the front yard, throwing up near the gate, as Cordelia joined him, rubbing his back and whispering soothing words to him

"A whole family. And he killed them all," Connor groaned, "I've never-"

"I understand, Connor. Everything is going to alright," Cordelia said

She was about to head back inside, when a vampire came out of nowhere, punching her across the face and knocking her back

"Mom!"

Connor rose up, slamming his fist into the vampire's face, as another vampire appeared, grabbing Cordelia from behind. She broke out of his grip and drove her elbow back into his face, before whirling around and backhanding him. At that moment, Wesley arrived in his car, running the vampire over, as Cordelia and Connor quickly got into the car and he drove back to the hotel

††††††††††

"How'd it go?" Lorne asked

"We found the mother, father, two daughters, little boy and the grandmother all murdered," Cordelia replied

"Oh man, I'm always missing the good stuff!" Angelus cried, "Did you bring me back a souvenir? A stray baby toe?"

"Shut up," Cordelia said

Angelus simply smirked. His shirt was still smoking slightly from Gunn's flamethrower after tormenting the vampire hunter for amusement

"Well, I guess there's only one thing left to do," Wesley said, "We put the soul back into Angelus"

"Hey, that's not very nice," Angelus called, "I led you to the Svear Priestesses. Couldn't you at least keep me around for a few more days"

"Sorry, 'Dad', but you aren't of any use to us," Connor said

"Hey, Connor, what happened to your face? Someone make you look prettier?"

Wesley and the others headed upstairs, save for Cordelia, who stayed with Angelus

"I think that's enough now. We're putting you away for good"

"You still owe me," Angelus said, "I told you what you wanted to know. Pay up"

"The deal was, you tell us what you know, we save the world and then, you can have me. Guess what, world's not saved. We're gonna shove you so far down in Angel, there's no way you'll ever be coming back"

"The angrier you make me, the longer I'll keep you alive," Angelus said

"There's no way you'll be getting out of here," Cordelia smiled, "Say bye-bye"

She flicked her hand, creating a small spark that knocked Angelus back from the bars. He growled, as Cordelia continued smiling, before leaving the basement and joining the others in the office. They were all standing around the safe, grim looks on their faces. Before Cordelia could ask, Wesley answered for her

"Angel's soul has gone missing"

††††††††††

Cordelia was upstairs, sitting on the bed with Ashleigh at her feet. The baby girl was playing with her toys, as Cordelia watched her, seeing Angel in her. She smiled slightly, then remembering that she may never get Angel back. Connor and Wesley had gone to see Wo-Pang to ask him about the missing Mo-ping

"Where's Dada?" Ashleigh asked

"I don't know, baby," Cordelia replied, "I don't know when he's coming back"

"Oh. Where's Con-Con?"

"He's gone with Uncle Wesley to find Daddy. It's okay, baby. It'll be okay"

Cordelia picked her daughter up and headed downstairs, seeing Gunn working on his flamethrower, as Wesley and Connor arrived back at the hotel

"Well, what's the news?" Fred asked

"Nothing," Wesley replied, "Who's watching Angelus?"

Gunn looked over at the TV, before dropping everything and racing downstairs, just as Lilah disappeared through a door, dropping her crowbar. Angelus reached for the tool, only to get shot in the chest by Wesley's tranquilliser gun

"Lilah was here," Gunn said

"You stay here," Wesley said, "I'll go after her"

He followed after Lilah, as Angelus collapsed on the ground and passed out

††††††††††


	15. A Dark Soul

††††††††††

Wesley made his way into the sewers, his tranquilliser gun at the ready. He turned a corner, heading along and coming across a door. Bracing himself in case he came across some nasty demon, Wesley opened the door, finding Lilah sitting on a small makeshift bed. She jumped when he entered, calming down when she saw it was him

"When I said go underground, I didn't mean literally," Wesley said, "How'd you know about Angelus?"

"Remove a vampire's soul, it makes big waves"

Wesley looked around the dinghy room, before spying a familiar book. He grabbed it and flicked through it, as something caught his eye: a picture of the Beast

"Where did you get this from?" Wesley asked

"Different dimension," Lilah replied

††††††††††

"There can be no way that Lilah and the Beast aren't connected," Gunn said, "I mean, we have Angelus and the next minute, Lilah shows up. Plus, she survived the massacre at Wolfram and Hart"

"Maybe Lilah is working for the Beast," Fred suggested, "You know, like a minion"

"Morons, the Beast doesn't have minions," Angelus groaned, waking up, "It _is _the minion"

"What do you mean?" Cordelia asked

"I mean, there's something bigger and nastier out there than the Beast. He has a master"

"Oh yeah and what makes you so sure about that?" Gunn demanded

"Because the Beast I knew was into smash and slaughter. But whoa, a hundred years later and it's blotting out the sun, killing Wolfram and Hart"

"Maybe it got smarter"

"And maybe, I'll grow little fairy wings and flutter away"

Just then, Wesley and Lilah arrived in the basement, as Gunn instantly aimed his crossbow at her, but Wesley stood in front of her

"Step aside, Wes and let me shoot the bitch," Gunn said

"She wasn't trying to break Angelus out and she has nothing to do with the Beast"

"And what makes _you_ so sure about that?"

"Maybe it's because he's been banging Lilah for the last six months," Angelus said

"Thank you, Angelus," Wesley muttered, "Lilah has some info for us"

"What kind of info?" Fred asked

"The kind I had to get from another dimension," Lilah replied, "Got it from way out of town"

"I'm guessing this book has stuff about our favourite rock friend?" Lorne asked

"That's the one," Wesley replied, "Could help us defeat him"

"Maybe even work out who the master is," Cordelia said

"The Beast has a Master?" Wesley asked

"That's what Angelus said," Connor said

"And I'm not someone who lies," Angelus said, "Like Wesley. Or Connor"

"Well, I guess that means we don't need Angelus anymore," Cordelia said

"That's not fair"

"Well, how do you expect to ensoul Angelus?" Lilah asked

"The more important question is how are we gonna defeat the Beast?" Wesley asked

"Sic Angelus onto him"

"Like hell I am. Not a fan of the big horn-job, but he did bring about permanent darkness. Gotta give him props for that"

"Again, how are we gonna ensoul Angelus?" Gunn asked

"I don't know," Lilah said, "If anyone's got an answer, its-"

Suddenly, Cordelia's eyes turned completely white

"-Her"

"I know how we're gonna ensoul Angelus"

"Excuse me, mind including me on this?" Angelus asked

††††††††††

_Two hours later…_

"This better work," Gunn groaned, hefting the soil

"Don't worry, we got the better end of the job," Connor said, "At least we don't have to scavenge around the road, looking for dead animals"

"Yeah, true, kid"

Gunn sank the shovel into the dirt again and heaved it aside, before striking something solid. He and Connor removed the last of the dirt, revealing the coffin. Gunn smashed it open with the shovel, as something came flying out of the coffin. Assuming form, the soul-eater smacked Connor aside, then shoved Gunn in the chest, sending him flying. Gunn quickly got to his feet, swinging the shovel, but the soul-eater moved faster than he could, dodging the shovel and uppercutting him, as Connor charged in with a sword. The soul-eater leapt over Connor, as he spun around quickly and slashed wide, but the soul-eater dodged the blade and struck Connor. Gritting his teeth, Connor swung again, as the soul-eater smacked the sword out of his hand, before driving its other fist into Connor's chest. The teenager groaned as the soul-eater started to live up to its name. However, Gunn came in with the sword, decapitating the demon. The body fell away from Connor, before convulsing violently on the ground. Gunn then hacked into it until it finally fell still

"Thanks," Connor said, touching his chest

"Sometimes, you just gotta keep swinging," Gunn commented

††††††††††

"Good, you've got the head," Cordelia said, "Now, I need it boiled"

"You can do that," Connor said, handing the head to Gunn, "I carried it"

"Boy, you gotta get your priorities right," Gunn said, heading off

"So, you think this will work, Mom?"

"I hope so, honey," Cordelia said, "You wanna check on your sister?"

"Sure"

Connor headed upstairs, as Cordelia went down to the basement, where the others had gathered. Gunn soon arrived with the freshly boiled soul-eater skull, while the others were busy adding the finishing touches to the talismans made of animal bones

"You guys sure about this?" Angelus asked uneasily, "Giving me my soul back using black magic? You know this will never end well"

"All ready?" Cordelia asked

"Ready when you are," Wesley answered, "You all have your talismans?"

Connor came back down with Ashleigh and grabbed his talisman, as everyone stood in a circle around the soul-eater skull. Wesley started reading the spell, as the candles flared up and the skull began to glow. White light moved from the skull, reaching Angelus and levitating him, before getting absorbed into him

"Did it work?" Fred asked

"Yeah, it worked," Angel replied, "It's me, guys. I'm so sorry"

"Sing for Lorne," Wesley said, "Just so we know"

Angel started to sing 'Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head', as Lorne grinned

"It's him. It really is. The aura's all changed"

"Alright, guys, so what do we know?" Angel asked

"The Beast has a Master," Wesley replied

"Right, you and Fred, go and research on the Beast. See what you find on the Master. Gunn, you're going with Connor to protect the streets. Lilah, earn your keep, start making some coffee"

They all headed upstairs, leaving Cordelia alone with Angel

"Just so you know, I don't take orders from someone hiding in a cage"

"What if the spell doesn't last? What if I turn back into Angelus?"

"You won't. I made sure of that. You're not Angelus"

"So, what do I do then?" Angel asked

"Step out of the cage. Leave Angelus and all that you did in there. Join us upstairs. Our daughter is wanting to see you"

Angel smiled slightly, as Cordelia opened the cage and reached for his hand

"You're not Angelus," she said, taking his hand

Angel suddenly yanked her back and her eyes widened when he vamped out

"Guess again," Angelus grinned

††††††††††


	16. Escape

**Okay, I know this is gonna seem a lot like season 4, but I can't really think of any ways I can change it, so I'm just going with what I know. I hope you can all bear with me, but I will tell you this: there is no Jasmine. She is not involved/doesn't appear, so there's that**

††††††††††

Angelus grinned and got kneed in the groin, as Cordelia hurried into the cage and slammed the door shut. Angelus smacked her head against the bars, knocking her out, before resuming his human face and heading on upstairs, finding Fred in the office

"Oh hey, Angel, you're out. That's good to see"

"Yeah, Cordy let me out. Look, I understand what you went through and I'm sorry"

"Angel, you're my friend. You're not him. I completely forgive you"

"Thanks, Fred. Can I have a hug?"

Something distracted Fred and she looked away, but when she looked back, Angelus was gone. Frowning, she headed out into the lobby, as Angelus came bounding down the stairs, wearing a pair of leather pants and a black, long sleeved T-shirt

"Angel, you're out?" Wesley said

"Yeah and I'm heading out onto the streets," Angelus said

"Do you want me to come with?" Connor asked

"Sorry, son, too dangerous. Gonna do this one on my own"

Angelus grabbed his leather duster and headed to the door, before looking back

"I've got to save the world"

Then he quickly left the hotel, leaving everyone very confused

"Has anyone seen Cordy?" Fred asked

_Ten minutes later…_

"I so believed it was Angel," Cordelia said

"So did I," Lorne said, "We were all fooled. I can't explain it"

"Now he's loose out there," Connor said, "And we have to kill him"

"Connor," Wesley started

"Angel told me to kill him should things go bad. Well, things have gone bad. And I am the Destroyer"

Connor grabbed a sword and headed outside, as Cordelia dropped her icepack and hurried out after her son, joined by Gunn and Wesley

"Connor, you can't just go running on out there," Cordelia said

"Mom, I grew up in Quor-toth. I'm not scared of Angelus. Holtz told me all about him, what's he like and how to combat him"

"I don't think you know the full story," Wesley said, "Angelus is possibly far more dangerous than what Holtz has made him out to be"

"Still, I'm gonna kill him"

"We'll head out and search for him. Cordelia, you stay here with Lilah and Ashleigh. The rest of us will go out on search. Connor, you'll be at the front"

"I can handle that," Connor said, "Let's go"

††††††††††

Angelus strolled down the street, enjoying the sounds of chaos in the night, watching as the vampires attacked the civilians. However, he had been unable to come across any humans himself and he was starting to get hungry

"Like shooting fish in a barrel," he muttered, as a vampire attacked an old fireman

He was getting frustrated now. All the fine pickings had already been taken, leaving hardly anything left for him. Angelus mentally growled at the Angel Investigations team for keeping him locked up for so long. A little girl ran past Angelus and he picked her up, as she revealed her game face

"Damn it!" Angelus growled, tossing the girl aside, "Is there no fast food left in Los Angeles?"

Then, just as he said that, a thought came to mind. A small wicked grin appeared on his face and he turned away, heading back in the direction he came. Five minutes later and Gunn's truck pulled up, as Connor jumped out, sword in hand

"His scent ends here," Connor said, "Where would he go?"

"He'll go to the place where he can inflict the most damage," Wesley said, as realisation dawned upon him

"Mom!"

††††††††††

"I still feel so stupid in letting him out," Cordelia said, crossbow in hand

Ashleigh was sitting before her mother, playing with building blocks, while Lilah sat across the lobby with an axe and handgun, staring at the young child

"It happens to the best of us," Lilah said, looking away from Ashleigh, "There are days when stuff happens and-"

"You ask yourself, 'what is it all for'?" Angelus asked

He grinned and leapt off the second floor, as Lilah rose up, firing her handgun. The bullets flew past Angelus, as he landed on his feet, catching the bolt out of mid-air

"Stay down!" Angelus said, throwing the bolt into Cordelia's thigh

She cried out, falling down, as Lilah went to reload her gun. Angelus smirked and started walking towards her, but something stopped him. Frowning, he looked down and saw his daughter attached to his leg. She looked up at him and smiled

"Daddy!"

"Hey, baby, Daddy's here," Angelus grinned, "Come to Daddy"

"Get away from her!" Cordelia cried, trying to reload her crossbow

"Aw, I couldn't help it if she came to me. And look at her. She looks so innocent and sweet. Good enough to eat"

Angelus grinned and lifted Ashleigh up onto his hip, as she smiled and placed her hands on either side of his face. Angelus vamped out, getting a shriek of glee out of his daughter. Cordelia took aim and fired again, but Angelus dodged the bolt

"Now, now, you don't want to be getting in between some father and daughter time"

BLAM! BLAM! BLAM!

Angelus growled when the bullets slammed into his back. He put Ashleigh down and whirled around, facing Lilah, who stiffened in fear

"Now, as for you, well, you were gonna let me out, so I'll give you a what, ten second head start"

Lilah took her chance and raced off, as Angelus smirked, starting to enjoy the thrill of the hunt. A bolt slammed into the wall just near his head and he looked back at Cordelia

"Don't get jealous, kitten, I'll still have time for you. And as for you, baby girl, Daddy's gonna be coming back. Eight, seven"

Angelus disappeared around the corner, following after Lilah's scent. He could smell the scent of fear and it excited him. She didn't know the corridors of the Hyperion as well as he did. Hiding in the shadows, Angelus stalked his prey

"Lilah, oh Lilah"

He stopped and sniffed, heading down to a right. He could hear Lilah's heartbeat close by. It was so loud; it was almost jumping out of her chest. Well, he would be tearing it out anyway. Following the drumbeat of her heart, Angelus doubled around, smelling the fear and anxiety, before pouncing, as Lilah swung her axe

"Oh, Lilah, I had so much plans for us," Angelus said, catching the axe

He kicked her in the stomach, throwing her down, while holding onto the axe

"Your genius mind, my killer instincts. What a team we'd make. However, with the new Big Bad in town, you're not so scary anymore and since you're one of the few decent meals left, it's kinda senseless for you to do all this talking"

Angelus swung the axe, as Lilah caught it, placed her foot in his stomach and threw him over the railing. Angelus tumbled down the stairs, as Lilah then shoved a large cabinet down at him. He chuckled as the cabinet sailed past, enjoying the thrill of the attack. He knew that this hunt would be so much sweeter when Lilah fought back and she was making it so tantalizing for him

Lilah walked off, as Angelus followed a different route, knowing he'll be able to cut her off. Lilah groaned in pain, her injury from the Beast flaring up and causing her to double over. Gritting her teeth and sucking air, Lilah forced herself to continue. She needed to get out of here, needed to find Wesley, needed –

"Hello, Lilah," the Beast grinned, holding her by the throat

"Oh, God," Lilah groaned

The Beast raised a crude dagger that seemed to have been made from his own skin. With an evil grin on his face, he plunged the dagger into Lilah's throat

"My Master says hello"

Removing the dagger, the Beast casually dropped Lilah's body aside and walked away, as blood pooled around Lilah's head

††††††††††


	17. Angelus & the Beast

††††††††††

"Ah, crap," Angelus said upon seeing Lilah's body, "Oh well, waste not, want not"

He vamped out and picked her body up, then sank his fangs into her ruined throat, just as Gunn and Wesley arrived, weapons drawn. Angelus looked up and grinned, before dropping Lilah's body and diving out of the window

"Well, at least he took care of one problem for us," Gunn said

Wesley was kneeling beside Lilah's body, cradling her head in his lap, sorrow in his eyes. Gunn felt sympathy for his friend and stood silent, as Wesley closed Lilah's eyes, before taking her body downstairs and into the basement

"Oh God, he killed Lilah," Cordelia whispered, watching Wesley walk past

"He has to destroy the body," Connor said, holding his sister, "She could have drank"

"Don't worry, princess, we'll get him back," Lorne said, "We'll bring Angel back"

††††††††††

Angelus sauntered into the demon bar, smirking as every patron stared at him

"That's right, peoples, Angel is gone and I'm back in the house"

All the patrons cheered, as Angelus weaved his way amongst the tables, only for a blond female vampire to slink up against him. He ignored her droning, grabbing a nearby pool cue, snapping it behind his back, then staking her

"Everyone wants a piece of you," he murmured, waving the dust away

Angelus made his way to the bar, getting instantly served with a mug of blood

"Hey, you're him, aren't you?" a demon asked, "The one? Angelus"

"Your point being?" Angelus asked in a bored tone

"Oh wow, this is so great. Think you can sign something for my hell-spawn?"

"Maybe another time," Angelus said, stabbing the pen into the demon's hand, "Right now, I'm more interested in finding the Beast"

"The Beast?" a vampire named Karl said, "Yeah, I've seen him"

"Really? And where would that be?"

"Come along, we'll show you," Karl's friend, Paco, replied

Angelus removed the pen, downed the mug, then used the pen as a dart, scoring a bullseye as he followed Karl and Paco out of the bar

"If this is a set-up, you're seriously gonna regret it," Angelus warned

††††††††††

Wesley stared at Lilah's body, the axe in his hand. He knew what he had to do, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. Sorrow welled up inside of him. He couldn't really bring himself to admit, but he knew that deep inside, he cared for Lilah. Hell, he would even so far to say that he loved her. She had a place in his heart and he had wanted to save her from the corruption of Wolfram and Hart. Show her to the light and have her realised her sins. But he also knew that would never happen. Lilah knew what she was getting into when she signed up

"I'm sorry, Lilah," he whispered

Then, he raised the axe and brought it down in one swift motion

††††††††††

"This is where I seen him last," Karl said, "Up by the waterfront"

"Right. You two stay here," Angelus said

Karl and Paco waited behind, as Angelus continued on. He caught hold of the Beast's scent and followed it, as another scent became entwined. Angelus recognised it as Lilah's blood and stepped out from amongst the crates, as the Beast appeared

"So, you used Lilah's blood to bring me here," Angelus said, "Did anyone ever tell you its not nice to kill someone else's prey?"

"My master requested that I kill her"

"Oh, that's a shame. Where is your master, anyway? Hiding in a dimension?"

"Closer than you think, Angelus," the Beast smirked

"Great, so we're gonna go with cryptic, huh? Well, I don't like being kept in the dark…figuratively"

"My master has requested your presence. This is why we started the apocalypse, stole your soul-"

"Ah, so you did all that just to get me, huh?" Angelus interrupted, "Well, uh, thanks for releasing me and all, but now I'll be on my way. And you best stay out of it"

"My master has plans for you, Angelus," the Beast said, "We want you on our side"

"Oh really? And on your side for what?"

"We plan to destroy the human race. And then we shall rebuild this world"

"Sounds fascinating. Did I mention I'm not interested?"

"I have orders for you from my master. And you will take them from me"

"Sorry, but I'm not taking the grocery list from the messenger boy. Your master wants to boss me around, tell him to tell me face to face"

"Until due time, Angelus," the Beast said

"Sorry, toady, but I've got my own plans for the human race. And they don't include you or your stupid master. Well, except for your deaths," Angelus said

"You will obey us"

"I ain't taking orders from a lackey. What, you don't like lackey?" Angelus asked as the Beast growled, "How about toady? Or lickspittle? Oh wait, flunky! You're nothing but a big, stupid-"

He had to duck when the Beast swung at him, then ducked again, moving around to behind the Beast, as he whirled around with a punch

"-Stone-headed flunky! Is that the best you've got?" Angelus asked, deflecting a punch, "Better call in the towel, Rocky"

Deflecting another punch, Angelus then struck the Beast, before leaping up into the rafters, grinning down at the glaring Beast

"When your master's ready to peek out from behind your skirt, have him give me a call"

Angelus laughed and ran off into the darkness, as the Beast growled and smashed his fist through a crate, destroying it

"Well, that was handled perfectly"

"I'm sorry, my master," the Beast sighed

He turned around, as Cordelia stepped out of the shadows, wearing completely all black, including one of Angel's leather dusters. Her hair had been arranged into loose curls hanging around her face, as she stood beside the Beast

"I wanted Angelus on my side for this, but you and your stupid century old rivalries or whatever, just had to get in the way"

"It won't happen again, my master, I promise you," the Beast

"Yeah, better not. Been planning this for a while. Hate for you to muck it up"

"Angelus will come around"

"We can only wait and see. Angelus is too unpredictable, but I'm hoping that he will see our way of things and come around to us," Cordelia said

††††††††††

Wesley came up from the basement, still in a stupor, as the others gave him space

"Are you alright, Wes?" Fred asked gently

"I have a new plan," Wesley said, snapping back into action

"God, I hope it's better than the last plan you had," Gunn said, "Not only do we have to worry about the Beast and permanent darkness, but now Darth Vampire is out there, running wild with the pack"

"Where's Cordelia?"

"She's upstairs in her room," Connor replied, "Recovering from the arrow wound"

"Good. It might be best she stay up there. She might not like what I'm gonna do"

"Enlighten us. Tell us what you're gonna do," Lorne said

"We kill Angelus, we're down a champion," Wesley said, "We need to bring him in alive. And there's only one way I know how to do that"

††††††††††

_Women's Correctional Facility…_

"Releasing prisoner 30314 into the field," came the voice over the intercom

The doors opened up and Faith the Vampire Slayer stepped outside

††††††††††


	18. Reach Out and Touch Faith

††††††††††

Faith smirked when she sat down at the table and picked up the phone

"Wes, man, it's weird seeing you here. Usually, it's Angel and damn, what happened to you? You look all…gruff"

"I'm sure you're aware of the happenings in Los Angeles?" Wesley asked

"Sure, permanent darkness and all. But I'm sure Angel will come blazing through, just like he always-"

"Angel's gone, Faith," Wesley interrupted, "Angelus is back"

"Step away from the glass," Faith said after a few seconds

Wesley hung up and stepped back, as Faith rose up and dived through the glass. The two security guards instantly went for her, but Faith blocked one and kicked him in the ribs, then threw him aside and backhanded his buddy in one swift move. Then, she grabbed Wesley and dived out of the window, falling three stories onto a car

"How you feeling?" Faith asked, getting up

"Five by five," Wesley replied with a slight smile

††††††††††

"Okay, so let me get this straight," Faith said as she got changed in the backseat of Wesley's car, "Angel and Cordy's son is now a teenager? And he's really two years old?"

"He grew up in a hell dimension"

"Right, but now Angel and Cordy also now have a daughter? Did I miss something?"

"No, I think that's all," Wesley said, pulling up, "Now, you've been in jail for three years. Maybe you've gotten a little rusty over the years"

"Maybe I have," Faith said

"Maybe it's time for a little practise"

Faith was suddenly pulled out of the car, as Wesley opened up his car, slamming it into a vampire and taking him down. He then stepped out of the car, delivering a kick to the vampire's chest, as Faith battled against the other two vampires

"Ah, it's her you want," Wesley said, pointing at Faith

"Slayer," the vampire growled, before running off

Faith punched one vampire, then elbowed the other, as Wesley tossed her a stake. She caught it and staked the first vampire, then quickly staked the second vampire

"How do you feel?" Wesley asked

"Like riding a biker," Faith replied

††††††††††

"So, here's what I'm gonna do," Angelus said, "I'm gonna find the Beast's Master. Then, I'm gonna get the permanent darkness spell from him and then kill him, before using the spell on Sunnydale, kill the slayer and have ourselves a Hellmouth party"

"You think we'll be able to take the slayer?" a vampire asked

"What are you, a weakling?" Angelus sneered, "We'll be able to kill the slayer easily. Then, we'll open the Hellmouth and bring hell to Earth. Have some fun"

"That might be a little hard," said another vampire, "Slayer's in town. Just heard"

"Really?" Angelus asked with interested, "I wonder which one"

††††††††††

"What is she doing here?" Cordelia demanded

"Hey, Cor. I get why you feel like that," Faith said, "So I won't be long"

"Who's this?" Connor asked, coming into the lobby

"Her name is Faith," Cordelia replied, "She tried to kill me when I was pregnant with you, Connor"

"So, you must be Connor," Faith said, "Yeah, you do look like your old man"

"She's a vampire slayer," Wesley said, "She's here to bring Angelus in"

"No, I was going to do that," Connor said

"Listen, kid, when I need a bloodhound, I'll call for you. But right now, I'll be the one who brings Angelus in, not you. Now, this is how it goes"

††††††††††

Within ten minutes, Faith, Wesley, Gunn and Connor were out on the streets, following Angelus' scent. Faith had her crossbow, Connor a sword, Wesley his shotgun, while Gunn had the tranquilliser gun

"Nobody attack until I say, got it?" Faith said, "Keep your eyes open"

A vampire suddenly appeared and was instantly decapitated by Connor. He was then instantly shoved against the wall by Faith

"Are you deficient? What did I just say?" she demanded

"He was attacking," Connor protested

"You thought it was Angelus. Take him away, he's no good to me"

"Best of luck," Gunn said, "Kid's got a habit of not listening"

"Oh, he will go"

"Like hell I will"

Faith shoved Connor against the wall again. He shoved her back, swinging his fist, but she blocked both blows, before shoving him and aiming the crossbow at his throat

"You a killer? I am. If it comes down to you or Angelus, you haven't shown me a thing to take your side. Take him home"

"I like her," Gunn grinned, leaving with Connor

"How do you expect to find Angelus without Connor?" Wesley asked

"Don't worry, some sort of sign will appear," Faith said, "A body or that"

Wesley joined Faith, seeing the massive canvas sign that said 'Welcome Home Faith'

"There goes the element of surprise," Wesley muttered

"You go low, I'll go high," Faith called from the other side

Wesley sighed and continued on, rounding a corner and wham! He fell to the ground, his shotgun skittering out of reach

"Pretty sneaky, hanging around my buddy Angelus," Karl grinned

Wesley got to his knees and flicked his wrist, as a collapsible sword folded out from his sleeve and he swung hard, slicing Karl across the face. Karl snarled, as Paco suddenly appeared, stepping on the sword and snapping it

"Our buddy Angelus," he growled

††††††††††

"Hello, Faith. God, you look as good as ever," came Angelus' voice, "We've never been properly introduced, have we now?"

"Come out and give me a kiss?" Faith called, descending into the warehouse

"No, you come to me. Come on now, warmer, warmer"

"Why would the great Angelus be hiding from a little slayer like me?"

"All the better to kill you, my dear. Warmer now"

Faith headed down a set of stairs, face first, reaching a small area filled with large wooden crates and steel drums. She looked around, trying to figure out where Angelus was, but he was nowhere to be seen

"Closer now, Faithy. Warmer. God, you're smoking hot now"

Faith whirled around, just as Angelus dropped out of the rafters before her, smacking the crossbow away from him, then punching her across the face. Faith stumbled back and took aim, as Angelus grinned and crossed his arms, leaning against a crate

"But then again, you already knew that"

"Angelus. How's things?" Faith asked, wary of the vampire

"Can't complain. I'm free and that's what matters. Free to have my own little plans for Los Angeles, once everything else has been taken care of"

"I doubt that's gonna happen"

"Oh, let me guess, you're here to stop me, right? Well, too bad. See, Faith, I've got a little something for you. Hey, honey, guess what I brought home for dinner"

Faith turned around, as the Beast stepped into view and her eyes widened

"What is this, Angelus?" the Beast asked

"This is a slayer. Say hi to the Beast, Faith," Angelus replied, "She's here to seriously mess up your boss' plans"

"That I doubt would happen"

"We'll see about that," Faith said

"Ooh, this is gonna be good," Angelus grinned

††††††††††


	19. Faith vs the Beast

††††††††††

"Connor, Gunn, what are you guys doing back?" Cordelia asked

"Junior decided to ignore Faith's orders and got sent home," Gunn said, "Barbie, you have really got to work on your boy here. Otherwise, Faith might"

"So? I wouldn't mind if she did," Connor said

"Connor, you really have to learn to listen," Cordelia said, "Otherwise, you're gonna end getting seriously injured or dead. You can't keep ignoring what you're told"

"Okay, fine, Mom, I'll try and remember that for next time," Connor said

He got up from the couch and stormed off to his room as Cordelia watched

"I honestly don't know what to do with him"

††††††††††

Faith took aim and fired, but the bolt bounced off the Beast's skin. Tossing the crossbow aside, she threw the first punch, pain shooting through her fist. Ignoring the pain, Faith landed a few more blows, until the Beast growled in anger and grabbed her by the throat, as Angelus came up behind her

"Smile, Faith, thought you'd enjoy a threesome"

"Yeah, okay, let's get it started"

She elbowed Angelus in the face, then used the same fist to punch the Beast. He let her go, as Faith looked between him and Angelus. Luckily for her, Angelus seemed to be content with watching the fight and she got into a stance, facing the Beast. He grinned, then drove his fist forward, straight into her chest and throwing her through the air. Faith smashed into a crate, as the Beast stomped over and tore the crate apart, pulling her out of it and throwing her to the ground. Rolling onto her feet, Faith ducked under the Beast's fist, whirling around and delivering a kick to his back

The Beast spun around, as Faith landed two kicks to his chest, then used his right thigh as a platform, kicking him in the face, while doing a backflip at the same time, sailing over his fist. As soon as she landed, Faith snapped forth with a scorpion kick, knocking the Beast back, as Angelus whistled impressively. Faith threw a punch, but the Beast blocked and struck her, then slammed both fists onto Faith, knocking her down, then stomping on her back

"Gotta get up," Angelus said, just as the Beast kicked Faith through the air, "Ouch"

Faith landed amongst the steel drums, as the Beast knocked them aside and tossed her through the air again. She hit the ground hard, getting to her knees, as the Beast stormed over and struck her again and again, finally knocking her down. Faith rolled over onto her back, blood pouring from her mouth and nose, as the Beast stood triumphantly over her

"Someone should break this up," Angelus muttered, heading over to the Beast

"This is all you are," the Beast told Faith, "I heard you possess great power, but you couldn't beat me. My master has power beyond your petty imagination"

"So he says, but don't listen to him, Faith," Angelus said, "Just get up and kick his ass. Well, you would if you weren't bleeding all over the place"

"What hope do you have in defeating my master?" the Beast asked

"I'll figure out that in a minute"

"In a minute, girlie, you'll be dead," Angelus said, crouching before her, "Mm, slayer blood. It's like an aphrodisiac for us vamps. I'd like a taste, but I prefer to have a little bit of fun first"

"Like hell that's gonna happen," Faith growled

"Yeah, I suppose I should just let the Beast finish you off," Angelus said, standing beside the large demon, "I mean, he could do it quickly for you. Sorry to say, Faithy, you tried your best, but you couldn't beat him. Nothing can kill him"

"That is very true," the Beast agreed

"Well, except for maybe a piece of him"

Angelus drove his elbow into the Beast's stomach. The surprise move stunned the Beast briefly, as Angelus raised the crude dagger made from the Beast's flesh. The same dagger the Beast had used to kill Lilah with. With a sinister grin on his face, Angelus plunged the dagger into the Beast's back, then watched with glee as the Beast started to glow brightly, before exploding in a shower of rock and dust

"It worked," Angelus grinned

††††††††††

_Five minutes earlier…_

Ducking Paco's fist, Wesley sank his fist into Karl's stomach, then uppercutted Paco, as Karl swung his fist. Blocking, Wesley struck the vampire, before getting hit in the face by Paco, then getting kicked in the chest by Karl. Grabbing a nearby dustbin lid, Wesley blocked both punches from the vampires, then smacked them with the lid, Karl first, then Paco. Karl grabbed a nearby chain and began swinging it, as Wesley deflected with the lid, then grabbed the chain, wrapping it around his arm and pulling Karl along, changing positions, as Paco got to his feet and growled

Taking the chain from Karl, Wesley cracked Paco in the face with it, then threw the dustbin lid into Karl's legs, taking him down. Paco leapt up, tackling Wesley and grabbing the chain, but Wesley shoved him off, getting to his feet and dodging Karl's fist, elbowing him in the face. Karl staggered back, as Paco went to attack, but Wesley landed a straight blow to his face, stunning him. At that moment, a huge beam of energy came blasting out of the warehouse, reaching up into the sky and dematerialising the black sky. The sun shined down on Los Angeles, as Karl and Paco burst into flames, quickly burning away into ash

"She did it," Wesley whispered

††††††††††

"Hey, look, the sun's back," Lorne cried happily

Everyone else headed out into the courtyard, enjoying the warmth of the sun for the first time in a week. Cordelia smiled, holding Ashleigh on her hip, as Connor joined her side with a small smile on his face

"She did it," he whispered, "Faith killed the Beast"

"Yeah, she must have," Cordelia said, "This is great. The sun is back"

"Now we've got a better chance of capturing Angelus," Gunn said, "If Faith can kill the Beast, I'm sure she'll have no problem with Angelus"

"There's still the matter of finding Angel's soul," Fred said, "With which I've had no luck in locating"

"Don't worry, munchkin, things are looking up," Lorne grinned, sipping his seabreeze, "Before you know it, Faith will have Angelus here by nightfall"

††††††††††

"Oh man, you mean killing him brings the sun back?" Angelus moaned, "If I had known, maybe I wouldn't have done it. On second thoughts, it doesn't matter"

He grinned at Faith, who was struggling to get up following her beating from the Beast. She managed to get to her feet, using a nearby pulley as her stand

"I wanted the Beast out of the way so I can have you to myself," Angelus smiled, "I just wanted the Beast to soften you up. With you dead, nothing can stop me"

Faith gritted her teeth and threw the pulley at Angelus, as he laughed

"Swing and a miss, slugger. Better luck next-"

CRASH!

The window shattered, spilling sunlight into the warehouse. Angelus growled and leapt into the darkness of the crates, as Faith stood in the sunlight

"Nice one, Faithy. Just you and me now. See ya round, kiddo"

Angelus walked off into the darkness, as Wesley arrived, joining Faith in the sun

"Come on, let's get you cleaned up," he said

"Yeah, sure"

Wesley and Faith headed off, as Angelus watched them from the rafters

††††††††††

"There we go," Lorne said, "The spell is done. Demons can't attack anyone in here"

"You sure it's gonna last?" Connor asked sceptically, "You've been spending the last two hours trying to perform the spell to no success"

"Listen, kiddo, this is gonna work. Complete bona fide"

"Yeah, you sure about that?"

Lorne grabbed the nearby candlestick and tried to hit Connor with it, but a shield appeared him and Connor, blowing him back, as Connor got into a stance

"See, you happy now, kiddo? It works"

"Don't call me kiddo," Connor growled

††††††††††


	20. Attack on the Hyperion

††††††††††

"Here, take a seat," Wesley offered

"Think I might take a shower," Faith said, dripping blood on the floor

Wesley pointed the way, as Faith went into the bathroom and slowly got undressed, pain flashing through her body. She eased herself into the shower and turned the hot water on, feeling it wash over her and wash the blood away. She was feeling low, having getting beaten to a pulp by the Beast, then Angelus' taunting and that she had failed to save her friend, who had done so much to make sure she was on the right path. Faith punched the wall in anger, which quickly consumed her and she ended up pulverizing the wall in a rage, screaming out in anger and pain

††††††††††

Cordelia checked on her daughter, seeing that she was asleep in her bed, before checking on her son. Connor was tossing and turning in his sleep, but before Cordelia could walk in and comfort him, he quickly settled down, quiet snoring filling the room. Cordelia left the room and went to her own, as the door slammed shut behind her and she whirled around in surprise

"Hello, honey," Angelus grinned, "Are the kids alright?"

"If you-" Cordelia started

"Whoa, hey, I'm not here for them. I'm here for you"

"What do you want, Angelus?"

"Oh, come on, babe, I miss you," Angelus replied, "I mean, I haven't see you for the past two days or so and absence makes the heart grow fonder"

Cordelia kept her guard up as Angelus started pacing the room. She didn't have any weapons nearby, but she did know martial arts. Ironically, it was Angel who had taught her how to defend herself against vampires and other nasty creatures

"Your heart is pretty much dead, Angelus"

"Ouch. Low blow there, Cordy. Tell you what, let's just skip the talking and get down to the kissing. Or the torturing. Honestly, I wouldn't mind doing both at once. Well, hey, you did offer yourself to me. You remember that?"

"I remember that," Cordelia said, keeping her distance, even though he could reach her before she even blink, "But that was only if we managed to save the world"

"Well, I did kill the Beast and look, the sun is shining. Well, not now because it's dark and all, but I did help save the world. Doesn't that mean you owe me?"

"Like hell that would ever happen, Angelus. You will never have me"

"We'll see about that"

Angelus growled and lunged at Cordelia, but she raised her hand, which started glowing brightly and Angelus found himself suddenly lying on the floor in Ashleigh's room, as Cordelia stepped through the hole in the wall

"You do remember when the Powers demonised me?" she asked, "Well, I have been working out the kinks and jinx of what they gave me"

"Well, that's hardly fair"

Angelus was suddenly on the other side of Ashleigh's crib, one hand reaching in and resting beside the sixteen-month-old baby's head

"One move and you'll have a dead baby"

"You can't do anything in here. Lorne cast the sanctuary spell"

"Oh, I thought he might do that. Which is why I got this"

Angelus grinned, holding up a bronze medallion, as Cordelia's eyes widened

"Allows me to be as beastly as I want"

At that moment, Connor burst into the room, as Cordelia quickly crossed the room, stepping around the bed and pushing Angelus aside. He dropped the medallion, as Cordelia picked it up and checked it over

"Made in China?"

Growling, Angelus leapt up from the floor, rushing into Cordelia's room and out onto the landing. Connor stepped outside and charged at his father, raising his fist. However, as he swung, a shield appeared between him and Angelus, knocking Connor over the edge of the railing

"Connor," Cordelia cried out

"Well, how about that?" Angelus said

He jumped off the landing and grinned at his unconscious son, before strolling into the office, just as Fred arrived with a tranquilliser gun

"Do you even know how to use that?" Angelus asked

Fred fired, but Angelus dodged the dart, grabbing Lilah's books, as well as other materials, before leaving the office. Fred took aim and fired again, but Angelus leapt up onto the landing, the dart striking a confused Lorne in the chest. He sank like a stone, while Cordelia was next to Connor, trying to wake him up. Fred aimed and fired again, but Angelus used the book to block the dart

"Can't beat a good book. Just remember how close you came to losing your friends just then, Fred. I would have ripped them apart and there would have been nothing you could do to save them. Well, see ya"

Angelus laughed and ran off, as Fred dropped down beside Lorne

††††††††††

"Okay, this is what we're gonna do," Faith said, "We're gonna find Angelus-"

"And oh I don't know, get your asses kicked?" Angelus asked

He shoved Faith aside, then smacked the shotgun from Wesley's hands, before moving behind the ex-Watcher and grabbing him by the throat, as Faith regained her footing, aiming her crossbow at Angelus

"Shoot him," Wesley groaned

"Let him go," Faith demanded

"Sorry, sweetheart, but Wes will always be between me and you," Angelus said, "Ain't that right, buddy?"

"Shoot him," Wesley groaned again

"Faith!"

Gunn threw a tranquilliser gun to her, which she caught, but then Angelus had shoved Wesley into the Slayer and running off, as Gunn aimed and fired, missing the vampire when he leapt over the fence. Racing outside, Gunn looked around, but there was no sign of Angelus anywhere, as he went back to Faith and Wesley

"He got away"

††††††††††

_Much later…_

"Well, this is mightily unhelpful," Angelus growled

He threw the glasses aside and went to threaten the bookkeeper, when…

"Angelus!"

"Who the hell are you and what are you doing in my head?" Angelus demanded

"You killed my pet. Naughty, naughty of you," the voice said

"Beast-Master. Well, where are you? Come on out and face me?"

"No, you'll come to me. In time. But I see that you are trying to find me. This won't do. I wanted you to be on my side in this, Angelus"

"Yeah, well, not gonna happen," Angelus said, "I'm my own man, I do things my own way. I don't buddy up with wannabe-tough voices"

"Are you defying me?"

"What, a big scary voice? I can do that too. You can kiss my vampire ass! That work"

"You're an insolent fool. Keep this up, Angelus and I will re-ensoul you"

"Oh really, is that so?" Angelus asked

"It is so, for I am holding your soul right here in my corporeal hands. If you don't start following orders, I'm gonna shove this soul back into you and you'll never come back. I'll make sure of that. You'll be watching forever, so thirsty, forever"

"I'm not scared of you. I'll find you and I will tear you to shreds"

"Empty threats, my pet. Do as I say and you'll remain soulless. What do you say?"

"Go to hell"

"Very well then"

The Beast-Master then started saying a spell and Angelus quickly recognised it as the Rite of Restoration. He had no intention of going back as Angel

"Alright, alright. What do you want me to do…Master?" Angelus said

††††††††††

_An hour later…_

"This is where Lorne said his friend lives," Wesley said

Following Faith's destruction of the shower, they had gone looking for Angelus, checking out a few demonic bars. From there, they went back to the Hyperion, where Lorne told them about the bronze medallion Angelus had used and where he had gotten it. Now, Wesley and Faith were in a large warehouse with steel beamed structures nearby. The pair headed up to the desk, finding a dead demon's body

"Why would Angelus come back here?" Faith asked

"Maybe because you guys are here," Angelus said

Wesley whirled around, aiming his shotgun, as Faith glared at the vampire

"A little birdy whispered it in my ear"

††††††††††


	21. Faith vs Angelus

††††††††††

Faith raised her gun and fired, but Angelus dodged the tranquilliser dart, before kicking Faith in the stomach while she was reloading, taking her down

KA-BLAM! KA-BLAM!

"Come on, Wes, I'll give you one more shot"

KA-BLAM!

"Strike three"

CRASH!

"Uh-oh! Vampire with a gun!"

Faith froze briefly for a moment, then started running as Angelus started firing. She rolled, sliding along the floor, a shotgun blast just missing her head. Rolling down the stairs, Faith came to a stop with Angelus standing over her, aiming the shotgun

"Wow, you have gone soft. Hey, you remember the time you wanted Angel to kill you, cause you felt so sad about being a bad little girl. Do you still wanna die?"

"No"

"What was that?"

"No"

"I can't hear you"

"No!"

"Too bad, cause you're gonna"

Faith realized the shotgun was empty and kicked it out of Angelus' hands, then swept, but he jumped over her leg, as she got to her feet, lashing out with a double high kick. Angelus deflected her leg twice, then started blocking her punches, before locking up her right arm and twisting it back, putting her off-balance

"Looks like we've got a live one," Angelus cried, then punched her, "Not for long"

He followed up with a punch to Faith's stomach, then did a roundhouse kick that knocked her to the ground, before kicking her in the stomach, rolling her a couple of times. Faith came to a stop, spitting up blood

"That's a shame. You never used to bleed so easily," Angelus said, before calling out to Wesley, "Hey, buddy, how's it going in there? Good old Wes. Count on him to tackle a bad situation and make it worse. I mean, look how you turned out"

"Ha, Wes said you'd get under my skin. Give me what I need to scratch you out"

"Is that all the scraggly ponce gave you to fight the big bad bogeyman?"

"Yeah and this"

Faith suddenly pulled a dagger out from her jacket, hurling it into Angelus' chest. He was stunned by the move, as Faith rushed him, delivering several blows to his stomach and face, then removed the dagger and slashed his chest twice. Growling, Angelus blocked her arm on the third strike and punched her in the face. Faith spun around from the blow, going for another slash, but Angelus stopped the move, shoving her back onto the ground, before leaping into the rafters, as Faith got up

"That hurt, baby. I kinda liked it"

"Come down and I'll give you some more"

"Nah, I think I'll stay up here. Nicer view up here. Love the jugs"

Faith flipped the bird at Angelus, as he laughed

"Tell me, Faithy, why'd you break out of jail? Not enough to punish yourself in there? Still looking for me to beat the bad out of you?"

"Just come down and fight," Faith said, trying not to let him get to her

Angelus chuckled, "It hurts, doesn't it? Forced to be someone you're not. It's like broken glass inside you, cutting you up. You know, there's only one way to stop the pain: hurt someone else"

Faith swung her knife, but Angelus grabbed her arm, kicking the blade from her hand. She swung her fist, connecting it with his face. He grinned and slugged her back, still holding onto her arm, then yanked her forward, before kneeing her in the stomach, sending her flying up into the steel structures. Faith landed and quickly got to her feet, as Angelus came flying up onto the structure. He smirked and lashed out with a fist, but Faith blocked his arm, only to get kicked in the stomach

"Getting tired, honey, wanna take a break!"

Angelus slugged Faith in the jaw, as she punched him back, followed by a backhand, then a kick to his stomach. Angelus staggered, as Faith grabbed onto a bar and swung around, kicking him in the chest. Grabbing her legs, Angelus shoved them aside, then kicked her in the stomach, sending her flying across to another structure. Faith landed and got up, as Angelus flew over at her. She punched him in the face as soon as he landed, knocking him down, then used him as a stepping stone to jump back

Angelus leapt back, just missing Faith, as she kicked him in the face. Growling, he blocked her punch, as her other fist crashed into his face. Angelus stopped her third punch and struck her in the rib cage, before throwing her off the structure

"The funny thing is, I could beat you to death and it still won't mean a thing"

Angelus dropped down beside Faith as she got to her feet, getting struck in the face, as Angelus followed up with a left hook that made her stagger, then sank his fist into her stomach, before elbowing her down to the ground

"You're an animal, Faith and you're never gonna change," he said, slugging her, "You're just like me," he added, punching her one last time

"No!"

Faith rose up, uppercutting Angelus, as he hit her back. She struck him, followed by a second punch, blocking Angelus' punch and striking him again, before kneeing him in the stomach a couple of times, then two small uppercuts, finished off with a roundhouse kick to the chest that threw Angelus to the ground. Faith stood over him, holding him by his shirt and punching him in the face again and again

"No! I'm not like you," she said, punching him one last time

Angelus lay on the ground, gasping after the pummelling he'd just received, blood running from his nose and mouth. He then growled and knocked Faith's feet out from under her, before grabbing her by the shoulders and vamping out

"You soon will be"

He sank his fangs into Faith's throat, as she gasped at the pain. Angelus started drinking, but then pulled back, pain washing over him as his face shifted back to normal. He started gasping, before falling unconscious. At that moment, Wesley came tumbling out the structure he'd been laying on during the fight

"We got him," Faith said, then passed out

††††††††††

_Earlier, at the demon bar_

"_It's called Orpheus," Wesley said, watching the drugged girl, "Humans inject it into themselves and the vampires feed. I've read it can have some interesting effect on both parties"_

_Later_

_KA-BLAM! KA-BLAM!_

_"Come on, Wes, I'll give you one more shot"_

_Faith was lying on the ground. She removed the syringe from her jacket and injected the Orpheus drug into her own body, just as Wesley fired his shotgun again and then went crashing through the glass, while Angelus was holding the shotgun with glee_

"_Uh-oh! Vampire with a gun!"_

"We got him," Faith said

Wesley made his way to the unconscious pair, before grabbing his cell phone

"It's done. Come in and get him"

††††††††††


	22. Mental Mind Walk

††††††††††

The doors to the Hyperion opened wide, as Wesley came into the hotel, an unconscious Faith in his arms, as he headed upstairs, while Gunn was carrying Angelus fireman style, taking him down into the basement and locking him in the cage, while Faith was placed onto a bed, as Lorne tended to her injuries

"Why is she all drugged up, Wes?" Lorne asked, "I can smell it"

"You wouldn't understand," Wesley said, "She captured Angelus"

"You drugged her up and fed her to Angelus? That's brilliant, Wes!"

"It was her choice"

Meanwhile, Connor and Cordelia were in the basement with Gunn, staring at the unconscious and shackled Angelus

"He drank from her," Connor said, "I can smell it"

"We have Angelus now," Cordelia said, "But no soul. How are we gonna ensoul him?"

"Maybe all you need is a witch"

All three turned around to see Willow standing in the doorway, a small smile on her face, while Fred and Wesley stood beside her

"Willow, you're here?" Cordelia said in a confused voice, "How'd you know?"

"I made a call to Sunnydale," Fred said excitedly, "Because I knew Willow had ensouled Angel before, so I knew we needed her"

"Cordelia, how are you?" Willow asked, "Wow, you have changed"

"Yeah, sure have," Cordelia said, "Same with you, Will"

"And this must be your son, Connor? My, my, you have grown since last time"

"Who are you?" Connor asked, feeling unsure about the witch

"This is Willow. We went to school together. She's a witch"

"So, you're gonna ensoul Angel then?" Connor asked

"Sure am," Willow replied happily, "Though, from what Fred's told me, his soul is now in a jar. But I think I can find the jar and break it. It'll be easy"

"I'm going to check on my daughter," Cordelia said

"Ooh, can I come and meet her?" Willow asked

"Yeah, sure, it's not a problem," Cordelia hesitantly said

"We'll set things up for you," Fred said

"That'll be nice"

Connor and Gunn remained in the basement, as Wesley and Fred got to work on setting things up for the ritual, while Cordelia and Willow headed upstairs to Ashleigh's bedroom, where the young child was sleeping

"God, she is so beautiful," Willow smiled, "She looks just like her mother"

"She's got a bit of Angel in her," Cordelia said, "For one, she's stubborn. But she's such a cute little darling"

"How come you never told us about her?"

"It was very hectic at the time and I guess we just simply forgot"

"Too bad I don't have my camera. Buffy would like it"

"Yeah, too bad. Maybe I'll send you some pictures later. Once Angel is back"

"Of course. Well, I better get started on that then"

Willow took one last look at Ashleigh, before heading downstairs, as Cordelia went to her room, before removing the Mo-ping jar from its hiding place, as her eyes turned completely white and a small sinister smile appeared

"Yeah, well, we'll see about that, Red"

††††††††††

"What the hell is going on here?" Angelus demanded

He was standing on a port, watching the people descend from the ships. However, the scene was from the early twentieth century. 1902 in fact. Sure enough, Angel appeared and walked straight through Angelus

"Hey!" Angelus demanded angrily, "What's going on here?"

"What the hell is this place?" Faith asked behind him

Growling, Angelus turned around and lunged at Faith, only to pass right through her. Faith simply laughed, as Angelus got up with a growl, before groaning

"Great, now I'm gonna be stuck with you. What did I do to deserve this?"

"Oh I don't know, maybe it's because you're evil?"

"Shut up"

The scene suddenly shifted to one from the twenties. Faith spied Angel sitting on a bench, dressed nicely with his hair slicked back. Angelus looked around, horror dawning on his face as he realized the memory. A flapper exited the club, as a car came swerving around the corner. Faith watched as Angel rushed out in front of the car, reaching the other side with ease. Then, Faith laughed again

"Dude, you rescued a puppy!"

Angelus growled and punched the wall in anger, as Angel handed the puppy to the flapper, then told her to get lost. Angelus knew the memory and he hated it. Hated how Angel shied away from the humans. So he would never be tempted to drink. Hated that the soul made him that way. The scene changed again and now Angelus and Faith were in a small café. Faith instantly recognised it as one from the seventies, due to the clothing style and music coming from the jukebox. The door swung open and Angel walked in. Faith couldn't contain her laughter and let it out, taking in Angel's appearance. Long hair, pinstriped pants, large striped shirt, it was all too much for the Slayer, while Angelus was rolling his eyes

"Oh God. I forgot he wore crap like that!"

"You wore powdered wigs and tights. What are you complaining about?"

"For starters, I never wore a powdered wig"

"But you did wear tights"

Angelus growled at the Slayer and sat down, as Faith sat across from him, while Angel made his way to the jukebox and chose a song. Angelus growled softly when the song, 'Mandy' started playing and Angel was slowly moving his head to the song

"Mandy?" Faith questioned

"It's a pretty song," Angelus said in a fake, happy voice

Just then, a scraggly looking man entered the café and Angelus perked up. Faith noticed this and watched as the man pulled a gun on the clerk. Everyone else fled the café, except for Angel, as the man pulled the trigger, shooting the clerk, then running off with whatever money he could grab

"Ho-oh, this is where is gets interesting," Angelus jeered, "You're gonna like this"

"Angel?" Faith said

Angel watched painfully as the clerk died, before locking the front door, before moving back to the clerk and vamping out. The intoxicating smell of human blood had been too much for him and he sank his fangs into the clerk's neck

"Nice one, boy-o!" Angelus cheered

The scene shifted again, this time to an alley, littered with rubbish, junk, rats and…Angel. Angelus sighed as he watched Angel dive amongst the rubbish, before finally catching a rat and biting down on it, as Faith watched painfully

"What happened here?" she asked

"See, right after he drank from that clerk, we spent twenty years doing this," Angelus groaned, "Feeding off rats. It's disgusting. Nothing but rat blood for twenty years!"

"That must have been before Angel moved to Sunnydale"

"Yeah, if I remember correctly, it's 1996. But I've already seen all this before. I've lived through it! Why do I have to go through it again?"

"Maybe because it's not about you, jackass"

Angelus whirled around, as Angel rose up from the rubbish and made his way to the pair, eyes full of hatred as he glared Angelus, who was returning the same look

"Faith, what are you doing here?" Angel asked

"Angel, good to see you again," Faith said, "Just waiting for this psychopath to be put away for good"

"So, what now?" Angel asked

Angelus suddenly kneed Faith in the stomach, then punched her in the face, sending her flying into the rubbish, as Angel closed the gap

"Probably something like," he said, "I figured the rules had changed"

"It's gonna end right now," Angel said

"No kidding, rat boy," Angelus said, "The Slayer will gravy when I've finished you off"

"I've been waiting a long time for this," Angel and Angelus said at the same time

Then, they swung their fists at each other

††††††††††

"Okay, I've got it," Willow said, holding up her hand

A small orange globe was floating just above her hand

"So that's what's gonna find Angel's soul?" Fred asked

"Sure is," Willow grinned

She threw her hand up and the globe shot off into the air, before zooming away from sight. It had moved so fast, nobody had seen where it went. Cordelia was in her room, the Mo-ping before her, using her magical abilities to mentally watch Willow, as the globe came flying to the room. Cordelia was able to stop it from reaching the jar completely, but she couldn't throw the globe away

"Alright. You wanna go, Glinda, let's go," Cordelia said

††††††††††


	23. The Battle of the Wills

††††††††††

Angel ducked Angelus' fist and slammed his own into his evil persona's face. Growling, Angelus backhanded Angel, then slugged him, as Angel retaliated with a spinning crane kick. Angelus ducked and punched Angel in the stomach, before throwing him through the air, then kicking Faith in the face. In the real world, Faith's head tossed to the side, as a new bloody injury appeared on her cheek. Lorne grabbed the cotton ball and wiped the blood away, whispering soothing words to Faith

"I'm so gonna kick your ass," Angelus growled

He swung his fist, but Angel blocked and punched him, swiftly followed by a second punch, as Angelus grabbed him by the shoulders and kneed him in the stomach, then threw him against the wall. Angel rose up, deflecting Angelus' arm and palm striking him in the chest, followed by a kick that threw him against the opposite wall. Angel fell upon his evil half, throwing him across the lobby, then reaching Faith

"Time to get up, Faith"

"It hurts," Faith groaned

"I know. It always hurts"

Angelus grabbed Angel and tore him away from the Slayer, before punching him twice in the stomach, then landing an uppercut that threw Angel through the air

"Does anyone notice a battle with your alter-ego going on here?"

Angel grabbed a dustbin and launched it at Angelus, taking him down

"Faith, get up!"

††††††††††

"What's wrong?" Wesley asked

"Something's stopping me," Willow replied, "Something powerful"

"The Beast-Master," Fred whispered, "It doesn't want you to ensoul Angel"

"It can damn well try and stop me," Willow said

Wesley then noticed that Willow's eyes had turned completely black and he took a slight step back. He had only heard just how powerful Willow had become, but seeing it for himself was a completely different thing. He could face down the worst thing from hell, but it was the sight of Willow that terrified him a little

Willow gritted her teeth, feeling the power of the Beast-Master. It was so strong, nearly as strong as her. Possibly more. She reached her hand out and started muttering a spell, trying to shove the Beast-Master away

"Come on, Willow, let's see what you've really got," Cordelia said

She reached her hand forward and down in the lobby, Willow went flying across the room. Wesley and Fred rushed to her side, helping her to her feet, but Willow pushed them aside, before standing in her former position

"Come on, Beast-Master, let's go," Willow said

Cordelia suddenly went flying across the room, but she didn't let go of the globe. It still hovered before the Mo-ping, wanting to smash the glass. Cordelia got to her feet, anger etched on her face as she reached out her hand again. This time, Willow went flying again, slamming against the wall, as a large pot plant went flying at the witch, smashing her against the wall. Groaning, Willow got to her feet, wiping the blood away from her forehead, her eyes completely black. She raised her hands up, dark power mingling amongst her fingertips

"What the hell is going on?" Gunn asked, as the Hyperion shook

"Something's not right," Connor said, "Stay here"

He dashed upstairs, seeing Willow floating off the ground, her arms covered in dark energy. Fear ran through Connor, as Willow sent the energy forth. It disappeared as soon as it left her arms, as Connor raced upstairs, reaching his mother's bedroom. Cordelia had just been struck by the magic and was lying dazed on the floor

"Mom!"

The sound of her son broke her concentration and the globe shot forward, shattering the Mo-ping, the soul dispersing into the ether, just as Connor entered the room. In the lobby, Willow started to calm down, as her eyes returned to their normal green. She knew she had just beaten off the Beast-Master and that Angel's soul was now in the ether. All that was left was the Ritual of Restoration

††††††††††

Angel slugged Angelus across the face, then got slugged, before blocking his next punch and hitting him, followed by a blow to the chin. Angelus grabbed Angel's arm and elbowed him in the ribs, before throwing him over his shoulder. Angel kicked Angelus back, then flipped up onto his feet, whirling around with a roundhouse kick, knocking Angelus to his knees, before throwing him into the wall, then joining Faith

"Listen to me, Faith, you need to get up"

"I did my time"

"Our time is never up. It never ends. I'm not perfect, Faith. There were things I did I wished a thousand times I could take back"

CLANG!

Angel fell to the ground, as Angelus dropped the car rim

"Like those Manilow concerts, you son of a bitch!" he said, punching him

Angel punched Angelus back, before getting punched, as Angelus followed up with a kick to his sternum, throwing him onto the rubbish. Rising up, Angel grabbed a steel pipe and smacked Angelus across the jaw, a second blow knocking him down. When Angelus didn't get back up, Angel dropped the pipe and rejoined Faith

"Our time is never up, Faith. The fight continues, as always. I need you to get up"

Angelus suddenly appeared, smacking the steel pipe onto Angel's back, then cracked him in the jaw. Angel went to get up, but Angelus smacked him down again

"Soul's in the ether. I can smell it. How about I send it off to the big puppy rescue?"

"Arf, arf, psycho"

"Faith, getting back in the game?" Angelus asked, facing the Slayer

"You know it," Faith said

Angelus' smile turned into a growl and he swung the pipe, but Faith suddenly disappeared

††††††††††

Connor and Cordelia headed downstairs into the lobby, as Wesley, Willow and Fred completed the spell, as Gunn came up from the basement to see what was going on. The Orb of Thesulah glowed brightly, before fading away. Willow smiled, as her eyes returned to their normal colour

"It's done"

Nobody had noticed Connor sneak off to the basement

††††††††††

"Hey, come back here!" Angelus demanded, as Angel rose up behind him

Suddenly, both were covered in a bright light, as Angelus roared in pain, before getting sucked into Angel, as the glow faded away

††††††††††

At that moment, Faith woke up and quickly left the bed, before racing down into the basement, finding Connor raising a stake over his father. She grabbed his wrist and pulled him away, before slamming him against the cage

"Break me off a switch, son, there's gonna be a whooping"

Connor struck Faith across the face, as she hit him back, before throwing him out of the cage. Connor got up and charged, but Faith grabbed onto the doorway of the cage, booting Connor in the chest and throwing him back. He got up and swung his fist, but Faith blocked and punched him across the face, before throwing him into the wall

"She's alive, it's a miracle," Lorne cried, leading the others into the basement

Faith blocked both of Connor's punches and sank her fist into his stomach, then punched him across the face, as Connor retaliated with one of his own. Following on from the move, Faith whirled around and landed a backhand that staggered Connor, before following up with a roundhouse kick to the chest, throwing him against the cage, just as Angel rose up, grabbing onto his son

"It's okay, Connor, it's me. I'm back now. It's okay"

††††††††††


	24. Revelations

††††††††††

"Okay, I get it. I mucked up," Connor said, "I wasn't really sure about all this magic or what Willow was doing"

"So you felt that killing your father was the best option?" Cordelia demanded

Connor cast his eyes down at the ground, as Cordelia's glare bore into him

"It's okay, kid, you mucked up. We all do," Faith said

"I think it's time we left, Faith," Willow said, "I've got some books from Fred that could help us out"

"Alright, I'm going. See you around, guys," Faith called

"Goodbye," Angel said, "And Willow? Thanks"

"It's okay," Willow said, "Guys, when you're gonna resurrect Angelus, call me first?"

"Will do," Wesley said

Faith and Willow waved before leaving the hotel, as Angel turned to the others

"Tell you what, man, it wasn't fun dealing with your other half," Gunn said

"I know and I'm sorry, guys. But you all know that I'm not Angelus. But still, I'm sorry for all that's happened. Wesley? Angelus didn't murder Lilah"

Wesley perked up at this, confusion on his face

"The Beast-Master?"

"Correct. And right now, we've got to find out who the Beast-Master is. The good thing is, I know his plan"

"How'd you find that out?" Cordelia asked

"Because he was talking to me," Angel replied, "He wanted me on his side when he destroys the human race so he could rebuild the world for demons"

"Man, that's crazy," Gunn said, "Do you even know what exactly we're dealing with?"

"A psycho with a big cheesy voice," Angel said, "I want you guys to try and do some research on the Beast-Master. I don't have Lilah's books; as they're currently dust. He forced me to burn them, so I'm sorry there"

"I think we have some copies we can work with," Wesley said

"Good, work on that," Angel said

"While you guys are doing that, I've got something that needs doing," Lorne said

"Like what?" Fred asked

"Getting my musical mojo back. It's been messed up since Angelus escaped"

"Okay. We'll work on finding the Beast-Master"

Lorne nodded and headed upstairs, as Angel went to his office, followed by Cordelia

"Did you want to talk?" she asked

"About what?" he replied, going through some paperwork

"About Angelus, Connor and the Beast-Master"

"Look, Cordy, I'm not really worrying about Angelus. I have more important matters on my mind and that's the Beast-Master. I don't know when he's gonna start carrying out his plan, but I have to find and stop him"

"I thought you may want to talk, that's all," Cordelia said, "By the way, I think Ashleigh wants to see you"

"I'll get her then"

Angel headed upstairs, smiling at his daughter when he entered the room. She smiled and reached her arms out to him. Angel picked her up, tickling her stomach and making her laugh, a grin coming to his face. Then, the grin faded when he thought about how close Angelus had come to killing Ashleigh. Luckily for him, Ashleigh was still a young child and probably didn't remember it. Deciding to get his mind off his evil half, Angel headed back down to his office. Connor was still sitting on the lounge, staring off into space with a slightly sad look on his face

"Hey, Connor, you okay?" Angel asked

"Mom already asked me that. I'll be fine. In fact, I'll be in my room"

Connor headed up to his room, as Angel went back to the office. Cordelia was already gone and he couldn't see her anywhere in sight. Sighing, he placed Ashleigh on the desk before him and she started going through the papers

"Now, listen to me, Ash," Angel said, "We're gonna talk"

"Kay," Ashleigh replied

††††††††††

_Later, that night…_

Lorne was in an abandoned warehouse, wearing a large, blue cloak, as he started the ritual to restore his mojo. He needed silence and this was the best place he could think of. All he had to do was light a few candles and hum the incantation. Not a problem. As he started his spell, Cordelia was up on the walkway above him, clutching a large kitchen knife. Silently, she made her way down to the bottom floor, sneaking up behind Lorne. She knew that once he got his powers back, he would be able to tell that something was wrong with her. And she didn't want that. She had already failed in keeping Angelus when Willow ensouled him, but she wasn't going to let her entire plan to fall apart because of Lorne. Who was nothing in her eyes

Suddenly, the lights flashed on. Cordelia looked around in puzzlement, seeing Angel standing behind her, as Wesley and Fred appeared, carrying a shotgun and crossbow respectively. Gunn was also there with a crossbow, as Lorne lowered his hood and turned around, holding a magical 8-ball

"What? How?" Cordelia asked

"Has Cordy been a bad girl?" Lorne asked, before shaking the 8-ball

Yes was the 8-ball's reply

††††††††††


	25. Fighting for Answers

††††††††††

"I can't believe it was you all this time, Cordelia," Angel said, closing the gap, "But I knew. You got just a little cocky with Angelus. In fact, I should be thanking him"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Cordelia demanded

"You were the one who stole my soul. The one who killed Manny. The one who fought against Willow. It was you all along"

"Gee and it took you this long to work it all out?"

"No. See, Angelus had known ever since you spoke with the Beast personally. He was there, watching you two. Then, when I was talking to you at the hotel, I could sense it. My soul, just hiding out of plain sight. Ashleigh confirmed it to me"

"Remind me to have a talk to the little girl"

"Why are you doing this, Cordy?" Fred asked

"For too long, humans have been ruling this world," Cordelia said, "Corrupted, weak beings, nothing compared to the mighty beasts that once ruled this world"

"Yeah, okay, enough with the speechifying," Angel said, "Your game is over"

Cordelia swung the knife towards Angel's throat, but he caught her wrist, before grabbing her by the throat, his eyes flashing gold, while hers flashed white

CRASH!

Connor came falling into the warehouse. He disarmed Wesley, taking him down with a knife strike to the chest, before manoeuvring Fred's crossbow so she shot Gunn in the leg, then punched her out, as Gunn took aim, but Connor knocked him out with a kick to the jaw. Cordelia broke out of Angel's grip and stabbed the knife into his ribs, as Lorne raised the tranquilliser pistol. Moving fast, Cordelia struck Lorne, the dart hitting Angel and taking him down, as Lorne also went down

"What the hell is going on here, Mom?" Connor demanded

"Come on, Connor, let's go," Cordelia said

"No, not until you tell me why they just tried to kill you"

"Come with me and I'll explain it all"

Connor hesitated, as Wesley began to stir. Deciding quickly, Connor left the warehouse with his mother, but not before looking longingly at his father

††††††††††

_Later…_

"I can't believe Kid Angel and his Barbie mother kicked our asses," Gunn groaned

"I'm really sorry about your leg, Charles," Fred said

"It's cool. Had worse injuries than this. I'll heal"

"Okay, so why the hell is Cordelia evil all of a sudden?" Angel asked, more to himself than anyone else, "What would turn her like that?"

"Maybe it's the demon blood in her?" Wesley suggested

"Well, there's only one person who would know about that"

††††††††††

The portal died down, as Angel made his way down into the large cavern. A figure could be seen hunched over in the darkness and there was the sound of bones breaking. Silently, Angel crossed the sandy floor, reaching the figure, as it whirled around with a look of surprise on its face

"Geez, Angel, knock next time," Skip said, "You nearly gave a heart attack"

"You're the one who turned Cordelia Chase into a half-demon?" Angel asked

"Yeah, I sure was. Stopped the visions from killing her. Say, how is she?"

"Cordelia? Oh, she's turned evil. I was wondering if you knew anything"

"Me? No, I know nothing. All I did was turn her part-demon to save her life from the visions. As to why she's evil, I wouldn't be able to tell you anything"

"You work for the Powers, right?" Angel asked, "Tell me, were you also the one who sent Piper Combs to the realm of the Powers?"

"Yeah, she had proved herself worthy to the Powers," Skip replied, "So I sent her up. Now she's doing a lot of good up there"

"Piper returned from there about three months ago. She's now dead"

"Oh, that's a shame. But why would she return? No one returns, except a slayer"

"I don't know, Skip, why don't you tell me?"

"Why do you think I would know anything?"

"Because I'm a vampire. I know when someone is lying to you. And you're lying"

Skip's look turned from surprise to sinister

"It took you this long to work it all out? Well, I'm sorry to say, but you're too late"

"What do you know, Skippy?"

"Nothing that I'm gonna tell you"

"Bad idea"

Angel leapt across the room, striking Skip across the face. However, Skip barely flinched from the blow, as he swung his fist and sent Angel flying across the room

"What, you think you could defeat me? Like last time?"

Angel got to his feet and headed over to Skip, before swinging his fist, but Skip blocked and grabbed him by the throat, before lifting him off the ground

"You know how humiliating it is to take a fall like that? To you?"

Skip threw Angel across the room, slamming him against the wall. Angel groaned as he got up, uppercutting Skip on the chin, as Skip retaliated with a blow that staggered Angel, followed by a straight punch. Angel ducked, as Skip's fist smashed into the wall. Striking Skip twice in the torso, Angel moved behind the demon, before grabbing him into a half nelson. Skip reversed and slammed Angel against the wall, before throwing him over his shoulder. As Angel went to get up, Skip booted him in the stomach, sliding him along the long table and off the other side

"It's too late, Angel. You won't win this time. Cordelia is going to restore the world"

"Like hell that's gonna happen"

Angel rose up, his game face on and with a growl, leapt onto the table, charging at Skip and booting him in the face. However, Skip caught his leg and threw him aside like he was a rag doll. Growling, Angel got to his feet, dodging Skips' fist and striking him in the face twice. Skip brought his other fist around, driving it into Angel's solar plexus. Angel groaned, as Skip booted him in the chest, knocking him down. Thinking quickly, Angel threw sand into Skip's eyes, then got up and landed a blow on his jaw that made him stumble. By then, Skip was able to see and he backhanded Angel across the jaw, throwing him across the room

"You're never gonna find out what happened to Cordelia. I promise you"

Snarling, Angel grabbed a nearby chain and swung it at Skip, cracking him in the face, then cracked him again. Skip staggered, as Angel closed the gap, swinging the chain and snapping off a piece of armour near Skip's ear. Rolling the chain up around his fist, Angel delivered several blows to Skip's face with the same fist, constantly hitting him until he fell to his knees

"Looks like you're gonna have to break your promise," Angel growled, delivering a final blow that knocked Skip out

††††††††††

The portal faded away, as Angel stood in the middle of the lobby, an unconscious Skip by his side. Wesley and Fred went to work on a containment spell, as Angel collapsed onto the couch, wiping the blood away from his face

"It's ready," Wesley said, "We can begin questioning"

"Excellent," Angel said, "Let's begin"

††††††††††

The doors to the police station were suddenly blasted off their hinges, as Cordelia strolled into the station. She was wearing a black leather corset that showed off her cleavage, as well as a pair of Angelus' leather pants, knee high boots and one of Angel's long leather coats. Her hair was hanging down around her face in long curls, while her eyes were now gold and orange with black, cat-like pupils

"Who the hell are you?" an officer demanded, "What do you want?"

"I want your best men you've got on the force," Cordelia replied, "Give them to me"

She heard the sound of several shotguns and handguns being cocked. With a small smile, Cordelia waved her hand through the air, red magic flowing from her fingertips. Every police officer in the room cried out, falling to their knees, as Cordelia raised her hands, which were now covered in red magical pentagrams

"Give me your best men now"

"Yes, of course," said a police officer, "Call in the SWAT"

"Good. Now, get ready. There's a war coming"

††††††††††


	26. Skip Reveals All

††††††††††

Skip groaned and opened his eyes, getting to his feet, before seeing the magical globe he was imprisoned in, as the members of Angel Investigations stood around him

"Okay, Skip, I guess it's time you start talking," Angel said

"Yeah, what are you gonna do to me if I don't?" Skip asked

"Fred?"

Fred smiled innocently, but Skip caught the sinister behind it. She held up a book and walked over to the prison

"The Eternal Torment. Every second a thousand years of pain"

"You don't have the stones"

Fred continued her innocent/sinister smile, before reading from the book. Instantly, Skip felt pain coursing through him. It was the most intense and unbearable pain he had ever experienced. And already, he didn't want to go through it again

"Okay, okay, stop, stop. I'll tell you"

"Start talking," Angel growled

"I work for the Powers and the Beast-Master. The latter offered me a better pay, so naturally, I took her up on it"

"The Beast-Master is a she?" Gunn asked

"Well, not everything can be male now, can they?" Skip said

"Keep talking," Angel said, raising his hand to Fred, ready to signal her

"Alright. I made Cordelia part-demon, but that was all for the Powers. It was after that I started working for the Beast-Master. She needed a strong, powerful body in order to manifest in this dimension so she could open the realms to the banished demons"

"But in order to get that body, one needed to be sent to her," Wesley said

"Look out, monkey's thinking"

Angel lowered his hand and Fred took that as her cue to continue the spell. However, Skip quickly raised his hands to signal her to stop

"The Beast-Master originally wanted Cordelia, because she was part-demon and carried the visions. She was a perfect host. However, we both knew that Cordelia would never leave this plane for the Powers. Her kids and you Angel, kept her here"

"So you sent Piper instead," Angel said

"She was a close friend of Cordelia's. Not as strong, but good enough. So, I sent her to the Beast-Master. And then the Beast-Master came here in Piper's body"

"But the descend wiped her memories," Wesley said, seeing it all fall into place

"Monkey's thinking again. Don't start the spell! I'm sorry. But then, you guys brought her memory back and instead of Piper, you got the Beast-Master"

"She didn't seem like that," Gunn said, "She seemed like normal Piper"

"Well, duh, it couldn't exactly reveal itself," Skip mocked, "Anyhow, Piper passed the Beast-Master onto Cordelia"

"How did she do that?" Lorne asked

Skip smiled and a small screen appeared on the globe. It showed Piper crossing the hallway and pulling Cordelia into a kiss, as a blue light passed between them. The screen then disappeared, as Skip smirked

"Piper passed on everything to Cordelia. She got it all. The memories of Angelus in his heyday, the complete of essence of the Beast-Master. Piper's job was now done. She was of no longer use to the Master"

"So the Beast killed her," Wesley said, "To stop her from blabbing to everyone"

"Hey, we've got a smart monkey! I didn't mean it, pretty Fred. Now, the Beast-Master needed time to grow her powers, so she could be ready in time for the ritual that will open the gateway to the demonic dimension"

"Which is why the Beast blotted out the sun," Angel said, "To distract us. Also why Angelus was brought forward. The Beast-Master wanted me as her general"

"Yeah, she didn't count on you being such a pain though," Skip said, "You pretty much renounced her and tried to do your own thing. And you killed the Beast"

"Well, Angelus' plan was a little better than the Beast-Master's," Angel said, "He was going to open the Hellmouth in Sunnydale and have a hell party"

"Yeah, I think I prefer the Beast-Master's plan," Skip said

"So, Cordelia is possessed by the Beast-Master because of Piper," Wesley said, "How do we reverse the possession?"

"You don't," Skip said with a shrug, "Only way to kill Cordelia by beheading her. The Beast-Master is in every fibre of her body. Killing her is the only way"

"There's got to be another way," Angel growled angrily

"Sorry, buckaroo, but killing Cordy is the only way you're gonna stop the Master"

"Fred, do the spell for a while, okay?"

"Sure, Angel"

Fred continued the spell, as Skip cried out in pain. Angel stormed over to the weapons cabinet and removed his favourite broadsword

"Think about this for a minute, Angelwings," Lorne said, "You really think you could do it? Kill the one woman you love the most? The one who's the mother of your kids?"

"Lorne, it's the only way I'm gonna stop the Beast-Master," Angel said, "I think Cordelia might want that. She wouldn't want her body being used to end the world"

"There actually might be a way you can reverse the possession on Cordelia," Wesley suggested, "I might be able to find something in my books"

"Yeah? Better hurry, vamp boy," Skip groaned

Fred stopped the spell in surprise, as Angel stood in front of the prison

"What are you talking about?"

"Cordy's gonna be starting her ritual anytime soon. So if I were you, I'd hurry"

"Fred, the spell"

Fred continued the spell, as Angel grabbed his duster and put it on, before leaving the hotel. However, once he left the courtyard, he was greeted with a surprise: about fifty vampires were all standing before him. Then, Angel remembered…

_"Really?" Angelus said, "I wonder which one?"_

"_I think it's the one from Sunnydale," a vampire said_

"_Well, I'll do a house call and find out. But in the meantime, this is what I want you to do. I want you to get your friends who are the most interested to meet me at the Hyperion in three days time. From there, we're gonna take out the Beast-Master"_

"_Sounds like a plan, Angelus," said a vampire, "We'll see you there"_

_Angelus grinned and downed the last of his blood, before leaving the bar_

"Angelus, we are ready," said the lead vampire

"Good. Come with me then," Angel said, "We've got a Beast-Master to take down"

††††††††††

"So, is this all the best you have?" Cordelia asked

"It is and we are, Master," the leader of the SWAT replied

"Good. Set up a perimeter. I don't want any distractions"

"You heard her, men, move out"

The SWAT left the room, as Cordelia got up from her makeshift throne, her hand resting on the hilt of the katana she had taken from the Hyperion, joining her son by the window. He had a troubled look on his face as he stared out at Los Angeles

"Something on your mind, Connor?" Cordelia asked

"Yeah. I'm just wondering what's going on and why are you doing this?"

"Oh, honey. The world needs to be restored. The human sheep have overpopulated the planet and it's time for the cull. I will make this a better world"

"What about Dad and Ashleigh?"

"Ashleigh will be safe, as will you be. But your father? He doesn't want a better world. He wants a world where there's always fighting. Always some kind of violence. When I change the world, I will make it a better, peaceful place"

"You let me know how that goes," Connor said

He turned away from the window and left the room, as Cordelia rolled her gold eyes. It didn't matter to her that her son didn't share her ideals. He would soon understand. She had much bigger fish to fry. Turning away from the window, Cordelia headed into another room, where a young girl was lying, bound at her hands and feet, as Cordelia knelt beside her and removed the gag

"Please, let me go," the girl replied with tears, "I won't tell anyone!"

"Shh, it's gonna be okay," Cordelia said, "Your sacrifice won't be in vain. Your blood will allow for a new world to be born"

Then, removing a dagger from her boot, Cordelia slit the girl's throat, blood pouring out onto the floor, reaching the candles that surrounded Cordelia and the dead girl

"Let it begin," Cordelia smiled sinisterly

††††††††††


	27. Going to War

††††††††††

"Per cruor of virgo EGO have donatus vos , tribuo mihi meus votum. Patefacio porta ut orbis terrarum of everto quod nisi vestri vengeance super orbis terrarum of vir. Attero lemma quod cubo orbis terrarum ut sic righteously belongs vobis"

Cordelia was kneeling in the centre of the candles, the virgin blood smeared across her hands, as well as two streaks along both cheeks. Connor was standing near the doorway, head down and confusion etched on his face. He wasn't completely sure what his mother was doing or if he should even work with her on this. He wasn't even sure if she was telling the truth about what she was going to do, as the whole place started to vibrate, as Cordelia's chanting started to get louder and stronger

"_God, what am I doing? What am I going to do?"_ Connor thought

††††††††††

The hotel started shaking, throwing everyone off their balance. Skip started laughing as he realized that Cordelia was performing the ritual

"It's starting. It's finally starting. You mortals are in for it now"

A chunk of the ceiling came flying down, striking the prison and shattering the globe. Skip grinned and stretched his arms, before rolling his shoulders, enjoying his freedom. Gunn grabbed a crossbow and fired, but the bolt bounced off Skip's armour. Skip closed the gap, punching Gunn in the face and throwing him across the room. Gunn struck the wall and fell in a heap, as Wesley drew his handguns from his jacket. He took aim and started firing, but the bullets had no effect on Skip, as he smacked Wesley aside, then grabbed Lorne by the lapels of his coat and threw him up onto the second floor, before whirling around to face Fred

"Now, you wanted me to suffer eternal torment," Skip said, "Well, guess what, missy, your time to suffer eternal torment is now here"

Fred grabbed a crossbow, but Skip smacked it from her hands, before grabbing her by the throat. He then tossed her across the lobby and she crashed against the counter

KA-BLAM! KA-BLAM!

Skip whirled around, as Wesley fired his shotgun again. The buckshot slammed into Skip, making him stagger, but he was able to resist the knock back in order to reach Wesley and smack him aside when he was reloading. With Wesley down, Skip then returned his attention to Fred, who was trying to make her way up the stairs, unable to walk due to the pain in her back, while blood was running from her nose

"Come here, cutie," Skip grinned

He punched Fred in the face, as Wesley groggily got to his feet, grabbing his handgun on the way up. He turned to Skip, seeing the small wound in his head from his fight with Angel. Levelling the handgun, Wesley took careful aim and pulled the trigger. The bullet whistled through the air, before landing with a solid _thunk _into the wound

"Oh, that's not right," Skip groaned, "That's not right at all"

His eyes fluttered and he collapsed beside Fred, as Wesley hobbled over to her, holding out his hand to her. She took it and he helped her to her feet

"Is he dead?" Fred asked

"Well, I'll take care of that," Wesley said, "How about in the meantime, you wake up Lorne and start searching for a way to reverse the possession on Cordelia"

††††††††††

The SWAT team was all positioned around the partly constructed building where their Master was currently performing the ritual. They were all tense, knowing that something was coming. Coming to challenge their Master. Sure enough, there came a shout and suddenly, about ten vampires came flying over the roadblocks

"Engage the enemy," the captain called, "Do not let them disrupt our Master"

Gunfire rang out, as the vampires kept leaping over the roadblocks. One vampire had his head blasted off by a shotgun, while his comrade tackled his killer and killed him with a bite to the throat. Angel arrived, jumping over a roadblock, as a SWAT officer swung his fist. Blocking him, Angel twisted his arm, then kneed him in the stomach, before slamming his elbow onto the officer's back, dropping him. He looked around, watching the vampires battling against the SWAT officers

_"Is this the right way? The right choice? Letting the vampires kill these innocent humans, all for the sake of saving the world? It's the lesser of two evils"_

Another SWAT officer swung a baton at Angel, but he caught the officer's wrist and snapped the bone, before kicking him in the chest, taking him down. Another SWAT officer lashed out, only for Angel to quickly slug him across the jaw, knocking him out. Angel followed on by punching another SWAT officer in the face, before realizing he was wasting time. Another SWAT officer charged at him, but went down from a roundhouse kick, as Angel headed towards the building

††††††††††

"What's that sound?" Fred asked

"Oh, that's just Gunn and Wes hacking up Skip with their buzz saws," Lorne replied

"At least the earthquakes have stopped"

"Indeed they have. Now, let's see what we've got here"

Lorne and Fred kept reading through their books, as Gunn and Wesley soon came up, both wearing jumpsuits stained with green blood and carrying bloodied buzz saws

"Ah, I think you guys should get changed," Lorne said, "Don't want to be scaring the young one"

"Where is Ashleigh by the way?" Wesley asked

"Didn't you see her out in the lobby in her playpen?" Fred asked, peeking outside

"No, I guess we didn't. Alright, we'll get changed and we'll join you"

"Skip all nice and hacked up?" Lorne asked

"Sure is," Gunn replied, "Tough son of a bitch, but we managed"

He and Wesley left the room, as Fred and Lorne returned to their books

††††††††††

"He's here," Cordelia said, rising up from the circle

"Who?" Connor asked

"Your father. He's here"

At that moment, the door went flying off its hinges, as Angel stepped into the room, broadsword in hand, as Connor joined his mother, who was grinning sinisterly

"Angel. How nice of you to join us. With such perfect timing too"

"Alright, Cordy, enough's enough. Time for all this to end"

"How are you gonna do that, kill me?"

"If I have to"

"No!" Connor cried, stepping in front of his mother

"Connor, get out of my way," Angel growled, "Mommy and Daddy need to talk"

"What, with swords and fists?" Connor demanded, "Mom was right. All you do is fight. That's all there is to you, Angel, nothing but violence"

"Sometimes, son, I wish there was a better way," Angel said, "But if we don't fight for what matters most to us, then we lose everything"

"Shut up!"

Connor lunged at Angel and swung his fist, but his father dodged the swing, punching him across the face, then grabbing him by the front of his sword and throwing him aside into the wall. Connor groaned and got to his feet, before rushing at Angel, who whirled around with a roundhouse kick, taking him down and knocking him out

"Now then, where were we?" Angel asked, facing Cordelia

"Well, before we begin, how about we deal with that little vampire army of yours?"

Cordelia smiled and started glowing brightly. Angel had to cover his eyes from the intensity of the light, as it swept throughout the skyscraper and spreading out into the streets. Every vampire caught in the light was instantly incinerated, as the glow faded away and Cordelia sighed, before recoiling slightly in shock when she saw that Angel was still standing before her

"It only works against evil beings," Angel explained, "I'm not an evil being"

"Okay then, fine, let's get it started," Cordelia said, drawing her katana, "We're giving a whole new meaning to the term 'lover's tiff'"

Growling, Angel charged and swung his sword, as Cordelia brought hers up to block

††††††††††

This is the spell Cordelia was performing in Latin: _With the blood of the virgin I have given you, grant me my wish. Open the gate to the world of the demons and unleash your vengeance upon the world of man. Destroy them and reclaim the world that so righteously belongs to you_


	28. Angel vs Cordelia

††††††††††

"How's the research coming along?" Lorne asked

"Pretty crappy if you ask me," Gunn replied

"It's not an ordinary possession, which makes it all the more difficult," Wesley said

"Who wants a drink?"

Lorne got a chorus of 'yes' and headed off to the kitchen. On the way back and after handing everyone their drinks, Lorne turned to Ashleigh, who was playing with her toys in front of the group so they could keep an eye on her. Lorne smiled sadly, thinking about her parents currently fighting each other to the death

††††††††††

Angel swung his sword, missing Cordelia, then swung again. This time, Cordelia blocked, which allowed her to spin inwards and backhand Angel. She then brought her katana around, but Angel swung his sword, blocking the blow and twisting his arm, giving him an opening so he could punch Cordelia in the face. She staggered back, but recovered quickly and slashed at Angel's waist, but he jumped back out of the way, before swinging his sword overhead, getting blocked and kicking Cordelia in the stomach. She stumbled, parrying Angel and spinning around him, elbowing him in the back. Growling, Angel spun around and slashed, but Cordelia jumped out of the way

"Give it up, lover, you can't beat me," Cordelia grinned

"Why don't you give up Cordelia and we'll call it even?" Angel growled

"When hell freezes over"

"That may be further away than you think"

Angel swung his sword, but Cordelia deflected the blade, before slicing at Angel's throat. He ducked, then landed an uppercut on Cordelia's chin, before stabbing at her chest. Cordelia deflected the blade with her katana, spinning around and landing a kick on Angel's head, knocking him to his knees. Connor groaned and started to stir, but Cordelia kicked him in the face, knocking him out again, as Angel rose up, bringing his sword upwards, only to get kicked in the chest. He fell on his back, as Cordelia swung the katana at him. Blocking, Angel kicked her back, then got to his feet, before deflecting the katana and punching her in the face

"How could you?" Cordelia cried, "I gave birth to your kids"

"Don't try and pretend to be like her," Angel growled, "It's not gonna help"

Cordelia shrugged and slashed at Angel's head, but he reclined back, avoiding the blade, before jumping over the katana, then slashing wide. Cordelia jumped back to avoid the blade, then brought her katana down overhead. Blocking, Angel moved inwards and elbowed Cordelia in the face, before slicing. A cut appeared in the jacket sleeve, as blood dripped from the wound

"Nice one," Cordelia smirked

She sliced upwards, then whirled around and slashed wide. Angel avoided the blade, stepping around Cordelia and slicing. She managed to block, before spinning around Angel and kicking him in the back, then slashing him across the back. Angel cried out and whirled around with a high slash that Cordelia ducked under, but he drove his knee upwards into her jaw, staggering her, then punched her across the face, knocking her to the ground, her katana spinning away from her hands

"Angel?" Cordelia asked

Her eyes had turned back to her innocent, chocolate brown and she was looking around in bewilderment. Angel instantly knew then that it was really Cordelia before him, not the Beast-Master. Dropping his sword, he knelt beside her

"Cordy? It's me, Angel. Everything is gonna be okay"

"Yeah, once you're dead"

Cordelia's eyes quickly changed back to that of the Beast-Master's and she grabbed Angel by the throat, while getting to her feet and lifting him up off the ground

"Oops, Angel, bad mistake"

She threw him across the room, slamming against the wall. Angel groaned and got to his feet, as Cordelia charged across the room, leaping into Angel, the pair smashing through a window and out into the night sky. Angel drove his fist into Cordelia's ribs, as she struck him across the face. They slammed onto a wooden rafter, Angel being on the bottom, as the rafter snapped off and they continued falling, before hitting a steel beam and bouncing across into another room

"Okay, that hurt," Angel groaned, getting to his feet

"Don't worry, baby, it's gonna get worse," Cordelia said

She slugged Angel across the face, followed by a second blow, then a third blow. Angel caught Cordelia's fist on the third punch and struck her in the face. He threw another punch, but Cordelia blocked and sank her fist into his stomach, then dropped him to the floor with an elbow to the back, before kicking him in the stomach, sending him flying through the air and through a wall. Coughing up blood, Angel got to his feet and turned around, just as Cordelia's fist crashed into his face, as he was then grabbed and slammed against the wall, then was grabbed by the throat

"Come on, lover, why do you even bother?" Cordelia asked, "We all know that you're gonna lose. Might as well give in"

"You should know I'm not gonna stop," Angel growled

He pulled Cordelia's hand away from his throat, before punching her in the face, followed by a blow to her ribs. Cordelia gasped in pain, as Angel then uppercutted her, followed by a spinning roundhouse kick that knocked her to the ground. Cordelia instantly flipped up onto her feet, rolling under Angel's kick and grabbing a large piece of four by two and swung it around, smashing Angel in the face with it

††††††††††

Groaning, Connor opened his eyes, feeling the pain in his face, before slowly getting to his feet and looking around. His parents weren't anywhere in sight, though their swords were lying just nearby. Grabbing both weapons, Connor headed over to the shattered window and looked down, just managing to catch a glimpse of Cordelia smacking Angel in the face with a large plank of wood

"Who's side do I join? Who's doing the right thing? Who's telling the truth?"

Jumping out of the window, Connor landed in the same room as his parents, their attention instantly getting drawn to him

"Connor, what a nice surprise," Cordelia said, "Are you going to be a good boy?"

"Don't listen to her, son," Angel said, "She wants to destroy the world"

"Stop confusing me," Connor growled

"Here, I'll make things easier," Cordelia said

She threw the four by two at Connor, but he dodged it. However, she had crossed the room in that time, punching Connor across the face, then kicking him in the chest, before picking the wood up and cracking him in the face, knocking him down. Connor didn't get up, as Angel growled and lunged at Cordelia, who whirled around quickly, smacking Angel in the face with the plank. Angel crashed through another wall, falling down through a large pile of steel pipes, before landing on a lower floor, as the pipes clanged around him, causing him to cry out in pain. Cordelia landed before him, as Angel grabbed two steel pipes and rose to his feet

"Time for you to die, lover," Cordelia grinned

"I'm going to save you, Cordy, one way or another," Angel said

Cordelia grinned sinisterly, before lunging at Angel, swinging the wood. Angel blocked with the pipes, shoving the wood away and smacking Cordelia in the face with one pipe, followed by the second. She staggered, as Angel swung the pipes in a windmill fashion, but Cordelia blocked with the plank, kicking Angel in the stomach, before cracking him in the face. Angel spat blood, as Cordelia swung the other end of the plank around, hitting Angel again, a third blow knocking him down. Cordelia then smashed one end against the ground, snapping it and making it sharp

"Now, I'm gonna finish it"

Angel got to his feet and slashed with the pipes, but Cordelia blocked both blows, before stabbing with the plank. Angel groaned, blood dripping from his mouth, as Cordelia hoisted him up on the plank

"Hmm, missed the heart, but oh well"

She then flicked the plank over her head, Angel flying off the spear and falling from the building, coming to a rest on the road, blood pooling around him. This time, however, he didn't get up, as Cordelia smiled satisfying to herself

††††††††††

"Come on, come on, there must be something here," Wesley said

After being unable to find anything to help Angel at the hotel, Wesley had driven to the nearest occult bookstore. He had sped on the way over and was surprised to find that there were no police officers out on the job. However, that was at the back of his mind, as he searched through the books, trying to find the one that would hopefully answer his questions. Pulling out a stack of books, he hurried them to the table, before searching through them as quickly as he could, as something caught his eye

"Hello, what do we have here?" he said, continuing his reading, "Eureka"

††††††††††


	29. Living On A Prayer

††††††††††

_"Kiss me, kill me, turn me. You're my sanctuary"_

Angel groaned, as Darling Violetta's 'Sanctuary' ringtone played near his head. Spitting up blood, he groggily grabbed his phone and answered the call

"Angel?"

"Wesley?"

"I have good news for you. I think I've found a way to remove the Beast-Master"

"Why do I detect some sort of bad news in that?"

"Because you'll pretty much have to kill her in order to do it"

Just then, the phone was torn from Angel's hand and tossed aside, smashing against a pile of bricks, as Cordelia grabbed him by the throat and lifted him off his feet

"Naughty, naughty, who were you calling?"

Cordelia then threw Angel into a roadblock. He cried out as pain shot through his back, before slowly getting to his feet, as Cordelia smiled at him. Gritting his teeth, Angel vamped out, anger and pain coursing through him

"There's my boy," Cordelia smirked, "Coming out to play"

She charged at Angel, but he grabbed a nearby brick, smashing it across her face. She spat blood, as he smashed her again. Spitting up more blood, Cordelia swung her fist, but Angel blocked with the brick. However, her fist smashed through the brick and into his face, making him stagger, following up with a roundhouse kick that knocked Angel to the ground. Groaning, he got up, as Cordelia uppercutted him, sending him flying through the air and crashing over another roadblock

††††††††††

"Damn, Wes, what are you doing, going to war?" Gunn asked

"I'm going to help Angel," Wesley replied, "Cordelia has cut off communications, which means I will have to deliver the spell to him in person"

"Do you want us to come with you?" Fred offered

"No. I can do this on my own"

Cocking his shotgun, Wesley left the hotel, as Fred and Gunn exchanged looks

"I hope he's going to be okay," Fred said

"Yeah, just as long as Cordelia decides _not_ to kill him"

††††††††††

Angel groaned as Cordelia lifted him up by the duster, before turning him around and holding him by the jaw, a dagger in her other hand. She stabbed it at his throat, but Angel caught her wrist. Cordelia responded by slinging him around and kicking him in the stomach, sending him sliding along the ground. Gritting his teeth in pain as tiny pieces of concrete cut into his back, Angel got up, dodging Cordelia's fist and punching her in the face, followed by an uppercut, then an outside roundhouse kick that threw Cordelia onto her back. Angel grabbed her by the throat and lifted her up

"I don't need to breathe, but you do," he growled, "Now, leave Cordelia"

"Make me," Cordelia replied

Grabbing Angel's wrist, she twisted it aside, before swinging her body upwards so her legs fell on other side of Angel's head. He had no idea what was happening until too late, when he was lying on his back again, groaning in pain as Cordelia stood over him, grinning triumphantly

"Now then, how about you be a good little bloodsucker and die, while I get back to my ritual that you so rudely interrupted"

Grabbing a stake out of her coat, Cordelia grabbed Angel by the coat, then raised the stake over his heart, a sinister smile on her face

"Time to say goodbye

††††††††††

The SWAT team were regathering their numbers following the vampire attack. Luckily for them, they hadn't lost many lives and were thankful that their Master was able to assist them in the battle. However, they had a new problem: smoke grenade. While those without masks succumbed to the grenade, those with masks were able to search for the intruder, but they didn't get very far, thanks to another problem: flash grenade. As the blinding light swept throughout the SWAT officers, Wesley made his way through them, hurrying towards the construction site. One SWAT officer raised his shotgun, but Wesley was quicker, shooting a round into the officer's knee. He went down screaming, clutching his knee, as Wesley reached the building and made his way into the site itself, finding Cordelia holding a stake over Angel. Taking aim with his handgun, he fired a single round, straight into her shoulder. Cordelia cried out, dropping the stake, as Angel threw her over his head, before getting up

"Wesley, what are you doing here?"

Wesley gave him a look as Angel remembered the interrupted phone call. However, Cordelia was starting to get to her feet, so Wesley started preparing the spell. She saw Wesley and realized what he was going to do and started heading for him. Angel intervened, punching her in the face, followed by a spinning backhand that she ducked, before slamming both palms against Angel's chest and knocking him aside

"Stay out of my way, dammit. Wesley, I'm gonna kill you"

"Angel, you have to place her at the brink of death," Wesley called

"What, are you insane?" Angel demanded, getting up

"The Beast-Master can't survive in a corpse. It makes it so much easier to banish her back to wherever she came from"

Cordelia raised her hand to Wesley, but Angel knocked her arm aside, elbowing her in the stomach and winding her, then driving his fist up into her jaw, making her stagger. She swung her arm, but Angel caught her wrist, before twisting it so he was behind her, pulling her arm up behind her back. He then vamped out, before sinking his fangs into Cordelia's throat. Cordelia cried out, as Angel started drinking her blood, while Wesley was reading the spell

"Tribuo mihi ops expello is malum. Tribuo mihi ops defaeco is animus. Tribuo mihi ops purgo is mens. Tribuo mihi ops aufero is macula. Tribuo mihi-"

Angel drew back once he heard her heart beat getting very faint, as blood dribbled from the puncture wounds. Cordelia raised her hand, knocking Wesley back with a shot of telekinesis, as Angel turned her around

"Come on, Cordelia, fight this. You can fight it. For me, for our friends, for the kids"

"-Ops deleo is existence. Tribuo mihi ops eradicate is vereor," Wesley finished

Cordelia tossed her head back and let out a scream, as a huge rush of light engulfed both her and Angel. He was yelling too, feeling the power of the Beast-Master inside him. The light spread out over the entire block, before fading away completely. Angel could no longer feel the Beast-Master inside him, as he turned back to Cordelia. Her eyes had turned back to her normal chocolate brown, as she gave him a weak smile, before her eyes closed and her body slumped in his arms

††††††††††

Gunn, Fred and Lorne looked up as Angel and Wesley entered the hotel. Angel looked worse for wear, as he carried the unconscious Cordelia in his arms, before gently placing her on the couch, as Ashleigh entered the room. Angel quickly scooped her up, pulling her into a tight hug, then handing her to Lorne

"Take her to her room," he whispered

Lorne nodded and headed upstairs, as Angel turned back to Cordelia

"Is she?" Fred asked, not wanting to finish her question

Angel shook his head, "No, she's just in a coma"

"So the Beast-Master is all gone now?" Gunn asked

"Completely," Wesley replied, "Angel drew the Beast-Master into his body and since the Beast-Master can't survive in a corpse, I was able to banish her"

"But how does that explain…oh, now I understand"

"So, what now?" Angel asked

"Strap yourselves in for the next ride you're gonna love," answered a female voice

Everyone whirled around, their jaws dropping in shock

"Lilah?" Wesley cried

"That's right. I'm here to give you the opportunity of your life," Lilah smiled, but then the smile faded, "Well, except for mine"

††††††††††

This is Wesley's spell translated from Latin: Give me the power to banish this evil. Give me the power to purify this soul. Give me the power to cleanse this mind. Give me the power to remove this stain. Give me the power to erase this existence. Give me the power to eradicate this fear


	30. Wolfram and Hart

††††††††††

"Run that one by us again," Gunn asked

"The answer's no," Angel said straight away, "I'm not doing it"

"It's just an offer," Lilah said, "Owning-"

"Simple answer: no"

Angel scooped Cordelia into his arms and headed upstairs

"Alright, but if anyone else here is interested, there'll be a limo waiting outside this hotel tomorrow night. It's your one and only chance, so consider it"

Lilah smiled and left the hotel, as Wesley sighed and went to the office, before putting all the books away as he thought about Lilah's offer and also Cordelia

"Must have been hard, seeing her like that," said Gunn from behind him

"Oh, yes. That was awkward, wasn't it? When you decapitate a loved one, you don't expect them to come visiting"

"Loved one?"

"Figure of speech. I wonder what their plan is for offering this to us"

"I'm just wondering about what's gonna happen with Barbie before I think about anything like that. But it's on my mind"

"Well, I guess we'll find out tonight who goes and who stays"

Meanwhile, Angel was up in his room, sitting by the bed and staring at Cordelia. She was still in her coma, as he thought about the recent events, mainly Angelus and the Beast-Master. He still couldn't over the fact that she had turned evil and tried to destroy the world, but then again, he wasn't any better. Even though neither of them could be blamed, they had still wanted to end the world. Sighing, Angel headed to his daughter's room, seeing her sleeping in bed and thinking about how innocent she still was and what could have happened if either him or Cordelia was still evil

"How you feeling, amigo?"

"I've been better," Angel sighed, "I nearly killed her, Lorne. Now, she's in a coma and I don't know when she's going to wake up"

"Give it time, Angelcakes. She'll find her way back to you"

††††††††††

_The next night…_

Fred crept downstairs, leaving the hotel and crossing the garden, reaching to the gate to see the limousine before her. She sighed, wondering if she was doing the right thing. Suddenly, Gunn appeared beside her

"I'm wondering if I should be doing this or not"

"Well, one way to find out," Wesley said, also suddenly appearing

"Here goes," Fred said

"Ah, what the hell," Angel said, "We can check it out and still say no"

He had been leaning outside the gate, young Ashleigh on his hip and gave his friends a small smile, before opening the back door, all four getting surprised looks on their faces when they saw Lorne sitting the door, laughing and smiling. He then turned towards the open door and moved aside to make some room

"Come on and join in"

Angel, Ashleigh, Gunn, Fred and Wesley got into the limousine, as it started up and drove away from the Hyperion, reaching Wolfram and Hart, as the group got out and headed inside, getting another surprise. There was activity in the building, as lawyers and other workers moved about in their jobs, answering phone calls and talking business with each other. Angel's jaw dropped. He hadn't expected Wolfram and Hart to be up and running so quickly after the Beast had demolished the building and its former workers. His attention was then turned to Lilah as she headed towards them with a large smile on her face, getting followed by several people

"Nice to see you guys here," she said, "Now, we all have a position for you guys and also a tour guide for you each"

"Divide and conquer, huh?" Angel said, changing Ashleigh to his other hip

"Oh, you're so cynical," Lilah smirked, "We have a whole heap of weapons here if it will make you feel comfortable"

A trolley had arrived with an assortment of firearms. Fred instantly grabbed the large semi-automatic machine gun, as a man in a lab coat approached her

"Fred Burkle, meet Knox, head of the Science department," Lilah said

Fred and Knox shook hands, before heading off, as a man approached Lorne

"If you're interested, there's the Entertainment division," the man said

"No way, hosay, I'm not…ooh, that's a nice contact list"

Lorne grinned and left, as a dark-skinned woman approached Gunn

"We have something interesting lined up for you," Lilah said

Gunn grinned at the woman, checking her out, before following after her, as a middle-aged and aristocratic man approached Wesley, who seemed to know him

"Rutherford Sirk," Wesley said, "Why would a Watcher be here?"

"Let's find out, shall we?" Sirk replied

The two ex-Watchers left together, as Angel glared at Lilah

"Oh, look at that, it's just you and me. Come on, Angel and Cordy junior"

Seeing that he had come all this way, Angel decided to follow after Lilah, as she led him to a large office and grinned

"By the way, we've got a little something for you. Guess Sunnydale's in short supply"

Lilah handed Angel a folder and a gold amulet. He took one look at them, before placing them on the desk

"Buffy can handle herself"

"She's gonna need that"

"She'll be fine, like she always is"

"Well, okay then, Angel, let's move on. This is your office here," Lilah said, "We've tailored it to your needs"

She opened the curtains, as the early morning sun shined through the windows and upon Angel. He cried out, shielding his and Ashleigh's eyes, before realizing that the sun wasn't burning him. Intrigued, Angel put his daughter down, before heading over to the window, as Lilah smiled at him

"Necro-tempered glass. Prevents vampires from burning up, like yourself. Need to look after our new boss here"

"I'm not interested," Angel said

He picked Ashleigh up and went to leave, as the phone rang. Lilah answered it, spoke for about ten seconds, then hung up

"They want you to see everything before you decide," she said

She then pressed a button, as a large TV appeared in the cabinet and was turned on, showing a game of ice hockey, as Angel's eyes widened

"Whoa, is that hi-def?"

"Sure is"

"So, what about Cordelia? And Ashleigh?"

"If Cordelia wakes up from her coma, there's the Special Projects division. As for Ashleigh, she'll have a playhouse that'll make her the envy of every toddler, as well as a twenty-four hour babysitter. Now, the question you should be asking yourself is what about Connor?"

"Connor…" Angel said, trailing off

He hadn't seen Connor since the fight with Cordelia, nor had he given his son much thought, too preoccupied with the comatose Cordelia. But now that Lilah had mentioned him, Angel started wondering about his son

"I have to tell you, Angel, pretty bad," Lilah said, "For someone who was so protective of him, you sure have let him down. The kid is messed up"

"Do you know where he is?" Angel asked

"Are you gonna agree and sign on as CEO of Wolfram and Hart?"

Angel grabbed Lilah by the throat and slammed her against the wall, growling, but also making sure that he had blocked most of the violence from his daughter

"Watch the neck," Lilah cried, "Head comes off kinda easily now"

"How about you listen to me and we'll make our own little agreement?" Angel said

††††††††††

_Five minutes later…_

Wesley arrived at the records room and started going through the files. He had knocked out Sirk and made his way to the records room via the air vents. He finally found what he was looking for, opening the folder and pulling out the contract

"What are you doing?" Lilah demanded

"Releasing you from this contract," Wesley replied, "You've suffered enough"

He drew out his lighter and set the contract on fire, watching as it burnt away to nothing

"Look in the folder," Lilah said

Wesley checked her folder, seeing the contract there again

"Flames wouldn't be eternal if they actually consumed anything. But it means something that you tried," Lilah smiled sadly

††††††††††


	31. Feeling Empty Inside

Okay, this is the second-last chapter. Since I didn't want this to be too similiar to the episode, I've placed the scene in a church. I hope you enjoy it

††††††††††

SMASH!

Connor looked around, trying to find something else to destroy when he saw Angel standing across the room from him

"Hi, son"

"Angel. What the hell are you doing here?"

"Came to have a father-son talk. Wanna bond?"

"You could try. I think we're past talking. Never done it before, so why the hell should we start now?!"

"Listen to me, Connor, I know what you're going through"

"No you don't!" Connor cried

He grabbed another wooden chair and threw it across the room, smashing it against the wall, as Angel started to close the gap towards his son

"Okay, maybe I don't. I have been to a hell dimension, but I was never raised in one by a deranged vampire hunter who fed me lies his whole life"

"He didn't tell me lies. He told me the truth," Connor said, "He was right. The beast is inside you, just waiting to come out. I've seen him for myself, Dad"

"I wouldn't have done that if there was a better way," Angel said, "But Angelus was the only way we could save the world"

"Then Mom had to go and turn evil as well," Connor said, "I watched her. She killed that innocent girl. Then tried to do magic with her blood"

"Your mother was possessed. She had no control over her actions," Angel said, "She's good again. In a coma, but she's good again"

"She was also telling the truth," Connor said, "All you ever do is fight. As if it means something to you. Mom was going to stop that. She was going to make a better world"

"No, she wasn't. She was just saying that, Connor. She was lying to you"

"Everyone's telling lies and half-truths. A lie can't save you. Nothing can save you!"

By now, tears had started to appear in Connor's eyes and Angel wanted to hug his son, wipe the tears away and tell him everything was going to be okay. But he couldn't do that. His son was in a hostile state, ready to strike without a moment's notice if the wrong thing triggered him

"I'm sorry, Connor, but-"

"Don't! Don't say you're sorry. You're not!"

"I am, son, I'm sorry for everything that's happened to you. I'm sorry I couldn't save you from Holtz. I'm sorry for putting all this upon you"

"You couldn't save me, Dad," Connor said, the tears falling now, "You let him take me. You let him take me away like that"

"I tried, Connor, so hard to get you back. Believe me, I did"

"But you gave up. You stopped trying. Like you always do"

"That's not true and you know it, Connor. I've fought so hard for you"

"Fighting. It does nothing. It gets you nowhere. I'm tired of fighting. The world is harsh and cruel. Nothing turns out the way it's supposed to be"

"But that's why there's us, son," Angel said, remembering the conversation, "Champions. Doesn't matter where we've come from or what we've done or suffered, or even if we make a difference. We live as though the world were as it should be, to show it what it can be. We try to make it the best we can"

"And I'm not a part of that," Connor said sadly

"I said you weren't yet. But I think you have what to takes. And I think you quickly understand what it means to be a champion," Angel said

"It just means more fighting. Fighting for nothing. Fighting as if it has meaning. Nothing can be changed, except by death. I must be your son, Dad, because I feel empty inside. I feel nothing. Just hollowness"

He drew a dagger from his sleeve, but Angel closed the gap and struck him. Connor slashed with the knife, cutting Angel on his cheek, then drove his elbow into his father's face. Staggering, Angel deflected Connor's knife hand and kicked it, the knife sailing up into the rafters of the church. Connor punched Angel in the face, then spun around and threw him into the set of pews. They crumbled into splinters under Angel's weight, as he got up and punched Connor in the face, followed by a second punch. Connor grabbed Angel and threw him towards the altar. Getting up, Angel grabbed a nearby crucifix, ignoring the sizzling pain in his hand, before cracking his son across the face with it

Connor grabbed a nearby candle stand and swung it upwards, catching Angel on the jaw and throwing him onto his stomach, then hooking the legs under Angel and flipping him through the air. Angel landed on his feet, dodging the stand and grabbing hold, before throwing Connor through the air. He landed with a groan, getting to his feet and swinging his fist. Angel blocked and punched, as Connor dodged and elbowed. Catching his son's elbow, Angel tripped him up, throwing him onto his back. Connor kicked Angel on the side of his knee, bringing him down, then kicked him in the face, before flipping onto his feet and kicking again. Angel blocked and rose up, slugging Connor in the face, as Connor struck him back. Angel blocked Connor's next punch and struck him, as Connor used him as a platform, jumping up and removing the dagger from the rafters

"It doesn't have to go this way, Connor," Angel said

"Yeah and what's your way, Angel? Another fight, followed by another"

"There is more to life than fighting. I know that. And I know that fighting is all you've ever done during your entire life. I get that it can be tiresome. But just give me a chance, Connor. I can show you that there are better things in the world. Things that doesn't make the place so bad"

Connor slashed, as Angel jumped back to avoid the blade. Connor slashed again, but Angel blocked and punched him, as Connor then attempted to stab. Angel caught the blade, as it sliced into his skin and his blood started to run from the wound. Connor punched Angel in the face, as Angel tore the dagger from his hand and tossed it aside. Connor punched Angel again, then jumped off the wall and kicked him in the head. Stumbling, Angel recovered in time to block several of Connor's punches, before getting an opening and landing a spin kick on Connor's solar plexus. He staggered, as Angel uppercutted him, sending him flying. Connor landed on the altar, as Angel swiftly joined him, holding him down

"I love you, Connor," Angel said

"What are you gonna do about it then?" Connor asked

"I'm going to show you. The world isn't that bad and I get that you're tired of constantly fighting. But sometimes we fight to make the world a better place. We may never succeed, but the important thing is that we try. I know you probably won't fight for or with me, that's fine. If that's the case then, then at least fight for your mother. For your sister. I know Ashleigh loves you and vice versa. And she's at least the one person who has never lied to you, Connor. If not for me, then at least for her?"

Connor glared at Angel, before the tears started to run and he broke down. Angel pulled his son up into a hug, holding him close as Connor continued crying

"I'm sorry, Dad. I'll try. For her. For Ashleigh. She means a lot to me"

"It's okay, son. Everything is going to be okay. You'll see. Everything's going to be just fine. Just give it time"

††††††††††

_Later…_

Angel returned to Wolfram and Hart to find that everyone were still there, as Lilah joined them. Ashleigh cried out and held her hands out to her father, as he smiled and picked her up from Fred's arms. Then, Connor arrived at the office, looking at the ground mostly, but also looking at his surroundings and his sister every now and again, as everyone surrounded Angel

"So, what's our decision then?" he asked

"Hate to say it, but I'm in," Gunn said

"I think we can do a lot here," Fred added

"Yes, I think I'm in as well," Wesley agreed

"Well, I'm here with you guys," Lorne said

"Very well then, we're in," Angel finished

"Excellent," Lilah beamed, "Welcome to Wolfram and Hart. Your new job. Here you are, Angel. Limo's waiting outside"

She smiled and handed Angel the amulet and folder, before heading off, but not before casting a sad, longing smile at Wesley, which he caught. Angel stared at the amulet and folder, before heading towards the exit

"Wonder what he's doing now," Fred said

††††††††††


	32. Sunnydale Reunion

Here it is, the final chapter. I would like to thank everyone for all the reviews and sticking with me through this story. You've made it worthwhile writing this. Now, this is gonna take place in Sunnydale, with that infamous 'cookie' scene. Though, there is no thing like that in this, cuz that was full of Bangel subtext and I ain't a fan of that. That said, enjoy this final chapter

††††††††††

Crack!

Buffy groaned when she hit the ground, looking up at Caleb raised the Scythe

"I was kinda hoping it would end like this," he grinned

"Hey!"

Crack!

Caleb went flying, as Buffy looked up at her saviour, a smile coming to her face when she saw Angel standing before her. He smiled at her, extending his hand, which she took gratefully as he pulled her up onto her feet

"What are you doing here?" Buffy asked

"You look good," Angel replied

"You look timely," she said

Caleb growled in annoyance and anger at the intruder as he got to his feet. Angel started to go for him, but Buffy stopped him, grabbing the Scythe as she did

"Ah, something you've got to do on your own?" Angel said

"Yeah, something like that"

She turned back to Caleb, dodging his fist, as Angel crossed his arms and leaned against a pillar. He had just arrived in Sunnydale about fifteen minutes ago and had caught hold of Buffy's scent when he neared her house. He followed it to the cemetery, finding a pyramid-shaped tomb with hieroglyphics on it. Upon entering, he heard the sounds of combat and quickly rushed to Buffy's aid

Now, he was watching as she fought against Caleb, matching him blow for blow, before dodging his fist, spinning around and slicing with the Scythe. Caleb gasped when the blade bit into his flesh. Buffy removed the Scythe and Caleb stumbled back, before collapsing on the ground, as Angel pushed off the pillar

"So, Angel, what brings you here?" Buffy asked

"Heard you've got a little trouble," Angel replied, "The First Evil. The very same being that tried to kill me"

He picked up a folder from the ground

"Arrived to give you a hand"

Suddenly, Angel went flying, as Caleb stood in his position, holding a vase, his eyes completely black, as black blood ran from his eyes and mouth

"You ready to finish this, bitch!" he asked

Buffy slashed, but Caleb dodged the blade and punched her, before grabbing her by the throat and pinning her to the ceiling, punching her again, then dropping her to the floor. Buffy groaned, as Caleb threw her across the room into the wall, then closed the gap, picking the blonde Slayer up and slamming her against a pillar. It cracked from the blow, as Buffy used to the Scythe handle to knock Caleb's hand away from her. Landing on her feet, she sliced at his legs, but Caleb danced out of the way, before swinging his fist. Buffy rolled out of the way, as Caleb's fist smashed through the pillar. Getting up, Buffy whirled around with a kick, as Caleb blocked and kicked her in the stomach

Stumbling, Buffy blocked Caleb's punches with the Scythe handle, then dropped and swept with her leg, but Caleb stepped out of the way. Rising up, Buffy landed a kick on Caleb's chest, before swinging the Scythe overhead. He grabbed the handle and slugged Buffy across the face, then threw her to the ground, before kicking her into the air. Buffy struck another pillar and landed with a groan, as Caleb laughed

"You can't beat me. You don't stand a chance. You don't have the-"

Buffy spun the Scythe around, then hooked the blade between Caleb's legs, cutting him off as he groaned in pain and surprise

"Who does anyway?" she asked

She sliced upwards, as the two halves of Caleb fell away from the Scythe. At that moment, Angel got up, whirling around with an angry look on his face

"Alright, where is he?" he growled

"He had to split," Buffy replied, then snickered at her joke

Rubbing the back of his head, Angel picked up his folder, before removing the amulet from his pocket and holding it up

"I don't have a dress for that," Buffy replied

"It's not for you," Angel said

"Splainy?"

"It's for a champion. With a soul, but stronger than human"

"What does it do?"

"Cleanses, purifies and probably scourges with soap bubbles"

"Sounds pretty. I'll take it"

"No, I don't know enough for you to use it"

"So, you're gonna wear it then?"

"Side by side, I'm yours," Angel smiled

"No, you can't. You have to be in LA, in case this thing beats me and gets past Sunnydale. I need back-up and I need you at that front," Buffy said

"Okay, that's one reason. What's the other?"

Buffy sighed. She didn't really want to have this talk with her ex and first love, so she headed up, leaving the tomb and walking out into the cemetery, as Angel joined her

"It's Spike, isn't it? I thought I could smell him all over you"

"Vampires and your sense of smell. Anyone tell you that's gross?"

"No, Cordy's never mentioned it"

"How is Cordelia by the way? And your kids? How come I haven't gotten any photos for your daughter yet?"

"You're avoiding the subject"

Buffy sighed, "It's different. He's different. Spike has a soul"

"Great, now everyone's getting a soul. When I got one, it was the cool new thing"

"Oh my God, what are you, twelve?"

"Buffy, this guy tortured me for a ring. A goddamn ring"

"Things change, Angel. You should know all about that"

Buffy sighed and sat down on a headstone, as Angel sat beside her

"Things change. You hooked up with Cordelia and had two children with her. I failed with Riley and the next best thing after you is Spike. He's been there for me lately"

"At least Captain Peroxide is doing something right," Angel muttered

"He's changed for the best. Honestly," Buffy replied, "Okay, so he's still the same old Spike we all wanted to dust, but he has a soul. He's good now"

"Well, that's something I probably didn't want to hear, but I'll live with it. You sure you don't want me on your side in this fight?"

"I'll think of something. I always do. I'm Buffy. I come through in the end. So, how are Connor and Ashleigh?"

"Connor's seventeen and Ashleigh's pretty good. She's a good kid. Stop changing the subject, Buffy. I know you"

Buffy shrugged, "I'm me. I've got a whole heap of potential Slayers, a witch, rogue demon hunter, ex-Watcher, sister, Spike and Faith on my side"

"Okay, fair enough," Angel said

He handed the folder and amulet to Buffy, before getting off the headstone

"You going already?" Buffy asked

"I'm gonna go and get started on that second front," Angel replied

"Maybe when this is over, we should meet up again. Someplace where I'm not fighting for my life. Then I can actually meet your kids"

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea. Take care, Buffy"

"You too, Angel"

Buffy turned and headed off towards her home, as Angel watched her go, before melting into the darkness, making his way towards the waiting limousine. He got in the back and let out a sigh. He hoped Buffy would be fine in battling against the First. He knew she would be okay, but just to make sure, he would get started on the second front in case Buffy lost against the First

"Let's go," Angel called to the driver, "Gotta take care of business"

The limousine started up and pulled away from the cemetery, before driving towards Los Angeles. Angel stared out the window, looking at the stars, as his cell phone started to ring. Digging it out of his pocket, he answered it

"Yes, Angel speaking. Wesley? Are you sure? Okay then. Thanks. See you soon"

Angel hung up and leaned back against the seat, quickly losing himself in his thoughts. Wesley had just delivered him some news: Cordelia had woken up

††††††††††

Yep, she's awake. And if you want more, stick around for the fifth story, **Shadow of the Day**, due for release around September. Thanks once again


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